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HISTORY 



THE ORIGIN 



OF THE 



TOWN OF CLINTON 



MASSACHUSETTS 



1653-1865 



BY 



ANDREW E. FORD 



CLINTON : 
X'ltKSS Ol' W. .1. CVjUI.TKi:. : : : : : COUKANT Ol'l'KI'; 

1896 



^ 34.0 






f1 



>'^ 



f1 



PREFACE 



This volume had its origin in some work on local history 
done in the Clinton High School in the years 1886 and 1887. 
The researches then begun by the author were continued at 
intervals, until such a mass of material had been gathered 
that some gentlemen, who had examined it, deemed that it 
was worthy of publication. The matter was brought before 
the town at a meeting held December 12, 1893, under an 
article: "To see if the town will take any preliminary steps 
toward the publication of a town history, or act in any way 
relating thereto." It was voted "to refer the subject matter 
of the article to the Directors of the Bigelow Free Public 
Library, and that they report at a future meeting." The 
report of this committee was made to the town June 22, 1S95, 
and in accordance with its recommendation, it was voted "to 
purchase the manuscript of A. E. Ford, and that the town 
appropriate the sum of five hundred dollars therefor." Two 
thousand dollars were subsequently appropriated to defray 
the expense of publication. 

It was thought best that the history should not be con- 
tinued beyond the close of the Civil War, as it is impossible 
to treat recent local events in a proper historical spirit. In 
a few cases where the unity of the subject seemed to demand 
it, the narrative has been continued beyond the fixed limit. 



iv PREFACE. 

With due allovvance for clerical and typographical errors, 
every statement of fact contained in this history is based 
upon some authority supposed to be reliable. As a general 
source of information the files of the Courant have been 
of inestimable value, for that journal has not only faithfully 
mirrored passing events, but, during the last quarter of a 
century, nearly ever}' number has contained some important 
article bearing on previous local history. In all matters 
connected with the early history of Lancaster, the works of 
Hon. Henry S. Nourse have been received as unquestioned 
authority. All transfers of real estate previous to 1830, and 
many since that time, have been examined in the Middlesex 
and Worcester County Registers. The records of the town 
of Lancaster, the records of School District No. 10, the rec- 
ords and reports of the town of Clinton considered as a 
whole and of its various departments, the books of the cor- 
porations and other manufacturing concerns, the records of 
the churches, the religious societies and other organizations, 
the military records of the adjutant-general of Massachu- 
setts, the Grand Army Memorial Record, the papers pre- 
sented before the Clinton Historical Society, and many other 
records, documents and literary works have been consulted. 
The memories of those who have been personally connected 
with events described have been ransacked for additional 
facts. Grateful acknowledgment is hereby made for all 
assistance thus derived, and for the unfailing courtesy with 
which the author has been met in his researches. 



CONTENTS 



Chapter. Page. 

I. The Physical Geography of Clinton. - - i-ig 
II. Scientific Notes. ------- 20-32 



X 



III. John Prescott, the Pioneer. ... - 33-60 

IV. Three Generations of Prescotts. - - - 61-72 
V. Farmers and Millwrights. ----- 73-89 

VI. French and Indian War, and the Revolution. 90-102 

VII. Closing Years of the Eighteenth Century. 103-124 



\TII. The Community East of the River. - - 125-138 

IX. The First Cotton Mill. ... - 139-161 

X. The Early Comb-makers. - - _ - 162-182 

^ XI. School District No. 10. 1800-1837. - - 183-191 



XII. The Coming of the Bigelows. - - - 192-215 

XIII. The Founding of Lancaster Mills. - - 216-229 

XIV. The Brussels Carpet Loom and the Later 

Life of E. B. Bigelow. - - - - 230-242 
X\'. The Bigelow Carpet Company and the Later 

Life of H. N. Bigelow. - . - . 243-258 



XVI. Schools in District No. 10. 1838-1850. - 259-268 

XVII. The Incorporation of Clinton. - - - 269-283 

XVIII. Fifteen Years of Municipal Life. - - 284-293 

XIX. Clinton Schools. --.... 294-305 



XX. Franklin Forbes and the Lancaster Mills. 306-322 
XXI. Employees of the Lancaster Mills. - 323-336 



VI 



CONTENTS. 



Chapter. Page. 

XXII. Minor Industries. ... - - 337-367 

XXIII. Certain Public Enterprises. - - - 368-380 

XXIV. TheXommercial Development of Clinton. 381-408 



XXV. LiBRARY'AND PrESS. 

XXVI. Lawyers, Physicians and Dentists. 



XXVII. 

XXVIII. 

XXJX. 

XXX. 

XXXI. 

XXXII. 

XXXIII. 

XXXIV. 

XXXV. 
XXXVI. 

XXXVII. 
XXXVIII. 



First Evangelical Church of Clinton. 
First Baptist Church of Clinton. 
Methodist Episcopal Church. 
The Tirst Unitarian Church of Clinton. 
The Catholic Church. - - - - 
Various Organizations. 



The Fifteenth and its Companion Regi- 
ments. ------- 

Clinton Men in North Carolina, and the 
Volunteer Record. - - - - ■ 

From Antietam to Gettysburg. - 

In the Mississippi Valley, Enlistments 
and Finances. ------ 

Under Grant in Virginia. - . - . 

Clinton Soldiers' Individual Record. 



409-42 I 
422-443 

444-463 
464-479 
480-491 
492-504 
505-523 
524-536 

537-562 

563-581 
582-595 

596-614 
615-636 
636-659 



Index. 



660-696 



LLUSTRATIONS 



Page, 

Contour Map of Clinton and Vicinity. - - - . i 

Western View from Reservoir on Buruitt Hill. - - 19 

Grave of John Prescott, the Pioneer. - - - - 60 

House of John Prescott 4th. - - - - : - - 71 

Map of the Southern Portion of Lancaster (1795). - - 102 

Fuller-Carruth House. -------- 128 

Tucker-Chace House. ---.----- 132 

Portrait of David Poignand. ------- 141 

Silhouette of Samuel Plant. - - - - - - 157 

Map of the Southern Portion of Lancaster (1830). - - 182 

Woolen Mills of the Bigelow Carpet Company. - - 208 

Up the Nashua from the Head of Cedar Street. - - 217 

Lancaster Mills, 1849. 228 

Portrait of Erastus Brigham Bigelow. - - - . 238 

Portrait of Horatio Nelson Bigelow. - - - . 243 

Residence of Horatio Nelson Bigelow. . - - - 251 

The Bigelow Carpet Mills. - 257 

The Common, from Corner of Church and Chestnut 

Streets. ---------- 291 

The Old High School Building. 298 

Portrait of Franklin Forbes. 313 

Lancaster Mills in 1896. - - - 329 

Portrait of Sidney Harris. - 337 



viii ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Page. 

The Harris Homestead. --.----- 342 

Clinton Wire Cloth Mills, 1865-1895. ----- 346 

Counterpane Mill. --------- 356 

Clinton, from Hospital. -------- 374 

Map of Clinton, 1857. - - - - - ■ - - - 400 

Chestnut Street. - - - - - - - - - 423 

Parker House. ..----.--- 454' 

The Nashua Valley from Rattlesnake Ledge. - - 518 

View Northward from Franklin Park. . . . - 536 

The Town Hall, with Soldiers' Monument. - - - 579 




m 



^1 

2^ 



CHAPTER I. 
THE PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF CLINTON. 

Clinton lies thirty-five miles west of Massachusetts Bay, 
upon the eastern slope of the highlands which divide the 
waters flowing westward into the Connecticut from those 
that find their way to the Atlantic through the Merrimac 
and the Charles. A subordinate range of hills to the east, 
lying partly within the town, pours its drainage on the one 
side into the Nashua, the more westerly of the two large 
branches of the Merrimac, and on the other through the 
Assabet into the Concord, the more easterly of these 
branches. Onl}' a few miles to the south, in Boylston, are 
the summits of a transverse range, which forms the northern 
boundary of the valley of the Blackstone, which flows south- 
easterly into Narragansett Bay. The hills of East Princeton, 
Westminster, Leominster, Sterling and Lancaster form the 
divide between the north and south branches of the Nashua. 

From Mt. Wachusett and from the eastern hillslopes of 
Rutland, Paxton, Holden, Princeton and Sterling on the 
west, from the northern watersheds of Boylston and West 
Bo)'lston on the south and to some slight extent from the 
slopes of the nearer hills on the east, the brooks unite to 
form the south branch of the Nashua. Before it reaches 
the dam at the Lancaster Mills, this river has a drainage area 
of over one hundred and eighteen square miles. As Clinton 
owes to this stream and its tributaries much of the physical 



2 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 

formation and the origin of many of the industries of the 
town, a study of its characteristics will form a fitting in- 
troduction to our histor}'. 

Soon after the south branch of the Nashua enters Clinton, 
its course is challenged by an elevation known as Burditt 
Hill, lying in its northward path. Turning to the eastward 
until it reaches the hills which divide its waters from those 
of the Assabet, the river winds through a narrow valley. 
The boatman, who follows the downward course of the 
stream, finds a constant succession of charming views. Here 
is a low lying meadow, the home of the blackbird and bob- 
olink ; further on, the shoulder of Burditt Hill pushes the 
river to the eastern edge of the intervale, then the current, 
turning again, flows toward the w^est, and thus the Oxbow is 
formed. At the present day, even before this point is 
reached, the water feels the effect of the dam at Lancaster 
Mills. The stream has been deepened and broadened and 
in some places spread out over the swamps and meadows. 

Below the Oxbow, the water fills all the narrow intervale 
and forms a beautiful pond, from which, on either side, the 
rocky and steeply sloping hills rise to the height of some 
two hundred and fifty feet above the surface. At the 
southern end of this pond, there is a little island surrounded 
by a broad area of shallow water full of lily pads and pick- 
erel weed. At the northern end of the pond. Rattlesnake 
Ledge, with its grey scales appearing amid the scrubby oaks, 
which try to grow upon its sides, throws its shadow over the 
waters long before the close of day. The ledge derives its 
name from the many rattlesnakes which once found their home 
here, but none have been seen since the earl}/ portion of the 
present century. In the summer, the brilliant hues of the 
cardinal flower may be detected glowing in shady coverts 
along the banks, where the trees bend over as if to embrace 
their own reflection in the water. In the early autumn, the 
lowlands near the Oxbow are magnificently attired with the 
scarlet and gold of the maples. A few weeks later, the hills 



THE SOUTH BRANCH OF THE NASHUA. 3 

are sombre with the russet shades of the oaks. During the 
winter, the skaters skim over the pond, and sometimes, it has 
become a race course, merry with the jingle of sleigh bells. 

The surface of the Lancaster Mills pond is two hundred 
and seventy-six feet above sea level. Of the thirt}' and 
eight-tenths feet of descent, which the river makes in passing 
from Sawyer's Mills in Boylston to the Lancaster Mills 
in Clinton, some twenty-eight feet are utilized by the latter, 
and thus a force of about seven hundred horse power is 
secured. During a spring freshet, a mighty volume of water 
sweeps over the dam, falling in thunder on the rocks below, 
and sometimes, as if in mockery of its power, the rainbow 
plays above the seething foam. 

It is said that the Nashaway Indians used to come to the 
rapids, just above where the dam now is, to fish for salmon. 
Many years have passed, however, since a salmon has visited 
these waters. If this region could be restored to the state 
in which it was when the Indian built his wigwam from the 
boughs of the primeval forest, what a contrast it would offer 
to its present condition. Where now we hear the noise of a 
mighty industry which gives employment and comfort to 
thousands, a few red men sought a meagre living by spearing 
fish, b}' lying in wait for the deer as he came to his drinking 
place, or by pursuing the bear to his den. Here, sometimes, 
perchance, the war cry of the ranging Mohawks gave a tardy 
warning to their destined victims.* 



*At the time of the present writing, in i8g6, the State of Massachu- 
setts has granted the right of using the south branch of the Nashua for 
a Metropolitan Water Supply. It is proposed to build a dam, some three 
thousand feet along the river above Lancaster Mills dam. This dam 
will be twelve hundred and fifty feet long, with a maximum height of 
one hundred and fifty feet. A reservoir will be formed, six and fifty-six 
hundreths miles in surface area, with a maximum depth of one hundred 
and six feet. This reservoir will hold sixty-three billion, sixty-eight 
million gallons. About a square mile of the southwestern portion of 
Clinton will be submerged. A dike will be built several hundred feet 



4 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 

Below the falls, the Nashua winds along its course, now 
in the narrow intervale of Lancaster Mills, now under the 
brow of Lover's Leap, the steep, rocky cliff of Harris Hill, 
now through the broader valley of the German Village, now 
close to the eastern slopes. After leaving the Oxbow on the 
south, the general course of the river for nearly two miles 
has been toward the northeast, but, here at Harrisville, its 
course changes to the northwest and, with this general 
direction, turns about toward every point of the compass as 
the outline of the hills and the nature of the soil dictates. 
So many are its windings, that the total length of the river 
in the town is over five miles, or more than twice the air-line 
distance from its entrance to its exit. The average breadth 
of the stream below the Lancaster Mills dam, as judged from 
many careful measurements, cannot be less than seventy 
feet, while the average depth would scarcely exceed four 
feet. Besides the descent of the river at Lancaster Mills, 
already noted as available for water power, there is another 
of four and two-tenths feet which was utilized by the Harris 
comb factory and is now under control of Lancaster Mills. 

Within the next mile and a half, there is another descent 
of six and eight-tenths feet. The total descent of the river 
within the limits of Clinton is forty-one and eight-tenths 
feet, making no allowance for the setting back of the water 
by the damming of the stream beyond the northern boun- 
dary. This would give a total available force of about one 
thousand horse power. The south branch of the Nashua 
joins the north branch in Lancaster, and the united waters 



north of Sandy Pond, extending from Main street, with a slight interrup- 
tion at the CathoHc cemetery, to the western limit of the town. By these 
dikes the water can be raised sixty feet above the present level of Sandy 
Pond. Burditt and Wilson Hills will form natural boundaries on the 
northeast, and another dike will be built to the south of Clamshell Pond. 
These dikes will have a total length of about two miles. The volume of 
water in the river below the dam will, of course, be greatly lessened. 



THE SOUTH BRANCH OF THE NASHUA. 



5 



flow northward to the Merrimac. In former times, the united 
streams were known as the Penecook. 

There are two islands in the stream below the dam at 
Harrisville, each of several acres in extent. One is half a 
mile or more from the dam, the other is near the boundary 
of Lancaster. These islands have been formed by changes 
in the course of the stream, and the force of the current now 
passes upon the eastern side of the first and the western side 
of the second, while the bodies of water on the opposite 
sides are so motionless that they are known as "dead" 
rivers. 

The intervale, with its varying breadth, is usually several 
feet above the surface of the river. In times of heavy fresh- 
ets, however, considerable portions of the lowlands are over- 
flowed. The surface of this intervale land is level, except 
where there are depressions marking the former bed of the 
constantly changing stream. There are several lagoons filled 
with still water connected at one end with the stream and 
thus making the intermediate step between the "dead" river 
and the depression. The intervale between Woodruff Heights 
and the Plain is about two hundred and forty feet above sea 
level. Currier's Flats are at their lowest point only two hun- 
dred and thirty-four feet above sea level. The quiet beauty of 
this valley below Harrisville is heightened by the noble trees, 
elms, maples and buttonwoods, which grow in the open 
meadows. There are some beeches which are slowly falling 
victims to the stream which is washing away the soil from 
beneath their gnarled roots. This intervale is the most fer- 
tile portion of the town. 

The river receives the waters of several small brooks 
from the east during the wet season, but most of these are 
dry during a considerable portion of the year. Carville's 
Brook, in the southern part of the town, is the only one of 
these worthy of particular mention. The tributaries from 
the west are much more important. These are Mine Swamp 
and Spring Brooks, near the southern boundary of the town, 



6 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 

and South Meadow Brook, near the northern boundary. 
Goodrich, or Gutteridge Brook, after flowing through the 
northwestern corner of Clinton, enters the river near the 
Lancaster line. 

That portion of Clinton southeast of the Nashua differs 
greatly in its physical characteristics and associations from 
the rest of the town. Instead of the sand formation, the 
quartzite and the slate, which appear elsewhere, the eruptive 
granite is found, and the drainage seeks the Merrimac through 
the Concord rather than through the Nashua. 

Beginning in the extreme southeast, we find ledges of 
dark green hornblende appearing among fertile meadows in 
the scarcely distinguishable crest of the watershed At the 
foot of this slight elevation, a little stream flows toward Ber- 
lin or North Brook, a tributary of the Assabet. On the west- 
ern side of the watershed, lies Carville's Pond, an artificial 
body of water some five acres in area and from four to six 
feet in depth. This pond is fed by springs and has its outlet 
in Carville's Brook, a little stream, scarcely half a mile in 
length, which finds its way down the hillside through a beau- 
tiful ravine into the Nashua. 

As we go from the pond toward the north and east, we 
climb the southern slope of a hill covered with ledges and 
boulders of coarse granite abounding in huge crystals of 
feldspar. On reaching the summit of this hill, which is five 
hundred feet or more above sea level, we look down upon 
Clamshell Pond, a natural sheet of water, which lies in a basin 
made by the surrounding hills. This pond is thirty acres in 
extent and somewhat resembles a clamshell in shape. The 
name may have come from this or from the fact that mussels 
abound here. It is for the most part shallow, but has in the 
center a depth of thirty feet. The muddy bottom is filled 
along the shore with the roots of pond lilies, and in midsum- 
mer thousands of the white sweet-scented blossoms rise from 
its dark waters. The pond has no visible inlet in the dry 



EAST OF THE RIVER. 7 

season, but is fed by springs, which bring the underground 
drainage of the neighboring hills. It has one tiny outlet on 
the south, which has before been spoken of as flowing into 
the Assabet through Berlin or North Brook. On the south- 
ern side of the pond, is a boulder weighing many tons, which 
was formerly so delicately balanced that a child could sway 
it, but a portion of it has recently been broken off so that 
the equilibrium has been lost and it is no longer a " Rocking 
Stone." In this section, as elsewhere throughout the town, 
the oak is the most common tree, but the chestnut frequently 
appears, scattered over the cleared land or gathered in 
groves. In July, when these trees are covered with tasseled 
blossoms, the air is laden with their heavy fragrance and in 
autumn, an abundance of nuts falls from the prickly burrs, 
when they are opened b}' the early frosts. There are here, 
too, as elsewhere, occasional groves of pine and maple, and 
a few birches, poplars and elms appear. 

This hill, which may well be called Wilder Hill, as the 
Wilders were the first settlers in this region, continues to the 
northward on the east of the river. After going down a 
slight depression, it rises again to another crest known as 
Wilson Hill. Here, one is greeted by a succession of pic- 
turesque views. The Nashua lies more than two hundred 
feet below, with its waters gleaming under the gray crags of 
Rattlesnake Ledge, and the valley stretches away to the 
north until the blue hills of New Hampshire bound the range 
of vision. This elevation continues with a considerable de- 
scent toward the northeast, so near to the south branch of 
the Nashua that it sometimes forces the drainage within less 
than a quarter of a mile from that river, into the distant 
Assabet. Finally, the hill sinks into a more level area, the 
southern end of which is called the Acre. This plain ex- 
tends for nearly a mile in length and grows more narrow 
toward the north. Here granite suitable for building pur- 
poses has been quarried and the soil is fairly fertile. 

Now the river turning toward the west leaves in the 



8 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 

northeastern part of the town a tract of sand formation 
nearly a square mile in extent. Ledges of argillite or slate 
appear in this at Woodruff Heights and half a mile to the 
north. From Woodruff Heights, one can look to the south- 
east up the winding valley of the river, while to the west 
and northwest is spread out a beautiful panorama of valley, 
plain and hill with the horizon line from fifteen to forty miles 
away. This area of sand formation is generally wooded 
with oak, with a slight mixture of chestnut, maple and pine. 
At the bluff above the island in the extreme northern por- 
tion of the town, there is a grove of hemlock. At the foot 
of this bluff, lies the river, with its two arms encircling the 
island ; then there is a broad green intervale, and beyond to 
the south and southwest, the Plain and the hillslopes covered 
with homes. 

Returning once more to the southern portion of the town, 
let us examine the western tributaries which it gives to the 
Nashua, and the watersheds which they drain. Mine Swamp 
Brook is the first of these. Entering the town from Sterling 
and flowing easterly for more than a mile through Clinton 
woods and meadows, it empties into the river a short dis- 
tance from the Boylston line. It has been dammed some 
half a mile or more above the Nashua so as to form a small 
pond a few acres in extent, known as Cunningham's Mill 
Pond. The flow of this brook has been estimated at two 
million gallons per day. 

A smaller stream flows into the river only a few rods to 
the north of Mine Swamp Brook. It is less than half a mile 
in length. From the nature of its source, it is known as 
Spring Brook, for it rises in a small swamp where there are 
many springs. The largest of these has an opening four 
inches in diameter, through which the water bubbles up with 
great force. Besides sending from half a million to a million 
gallons a day through Spring Brook, these springs pour a 
considerable portion of their outflow into Mine Swamp Brook. 



MINE SWAMP AND SPRING BROOKS. 9 

An inquir)' naturall}' arises as to the source of these 
springs. The swamp, in which they lie, is bounded on the 
north and west by steep hills. As we climb the slope to the 
northwest, we look down on the brooks, flowing through 
peaceful meadows lying between the hill on which we stand 
and those of Boylston, and still further to the east, lies the 
broad expanse of the river and the rocky brow of Wilder 
Hill juts out above the charming valle}' of Carville's Brook. 
As we reach the summit of the slope and find an opening 
through the evergreen trees with which it is covered, the 
source of the springs is at once revealed, for we see upon 
the opposite side from the swamp a large sheet of water. 
This is known as Sandy Pond. We seem to be standing 
upon an irregular, natural dam, with a breadth of less than a 
hundred feet at the top on the west and flaring toward the 
base and widening toward the east. This dam rises thirty 
feet or more above the pond and over forty above the 
swamp. It is evident that the springs are the leakage of the 
pond through the porous soil that lies at the base of the 
natural dam. 

In the middle of the present century, Sandy Pond was 
connected with a series of other ponds, natural and artificial, 
to form a reservoir for the Clinton Company. When this 
connection was made, the mud emptied into the pond was 
deposited in a thin layer on its bottom. Before, it had been 
covered with sand, which could everywhere be seen through 
the deepest water. Hence came the name Sandy Pond. 
The pond has no visible inlet, but must be fed by springs 
which receive the drainage of the porous sandy hills by which 
it is surrounded. Its watershed is estimated at one hundred 
and fifty-seven acres. The water in the pond was raised 
some eight feet b}' its connection with the reservoir, and its 
area was thus slightly increased. As measured by Thomas 
Doane in 1878, this area was forty-seven and seven hundred 
and eighty-eight thousandths acres. The distance around 
the pond, according to the same authority, was one and one- 



lo PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 

fifth miles. It will be seen from this relation of perimeter to 
area that the shore has few irregularities of outline. 

From many soundings, the average depth after going five 
rods from the shore was found to be a little less than forty 
feet. The greatest depth found was forty-three feet. This 
was in the southwestern part of the pond at a distance of about 
ten rods from the shore. Thus the basin is shaped somewhat 
like a milk pan with flaring sides. These sides slope most 
gradually in the northeastern portion and most rapidly in the 
southwestern, where, in one spot, a depth of forty-two feet 
was found only three rods from the shore. The water of the 
pond is cold, pure and sparkling. Few plants grow in it and 
fish are scarce. The steeply sloping, but not lofty hills, upon 
the shores are, for the most part, covered with oaks, but 
chestnut, maples and birches are abundant and there is a de- 
lightful grove of hemlocks and pines upon the southern 
shore. 

To the southwest of Sandy Pond, we find four small 
bodies of water. Three of these are only from two to three 
acres in extent, while the fourth is a little larger. It is said, 
that the waters of these ponds rise and fall with Sandy 
Pond, always agreeing with it in level, thus showing a 
common source or some underground connection. There is 
no doubt that this is true of the one nearest to it. All these 
smaller ponds are surrounded by steep slopes resembling 
those of the large pond. Like it none of them have any 
visible inlets or outlets, but they differ from it in having 
very muddy bottoms. Jewett's Pond is only half a dozen 
rods distant from Sandy. It has an island in the center 
made of moss and intertwining roots. Holes can be made 
through this island so as to fish in the water beneath. This 
island occupies a large part of the pond. The water is alive 
with horn-pouts, turtles and watersnakes. The three other 
ponds are near to each other and only a short distance from 
Mine Swamp Brook. They are much more attractive than 
Jewett's, being set like gems in the midst of the green hills. 



THE SANDY POND REGION. II 

One of these, lying farthest to the southwest, is sometimes 
called Howe's Duck Pond. It is twice as large as any one of 
the other three. Its beauty is increased by a picturesque 
tongue of land jutting into it from the south. These ponds, 
as well as Sandy, may be considered as belonging by nature 
to the system of Mine Swamp and Spring Brooks, since there 
is little doubt that their leakage naturally finds its way into 
the river through these channels. 

Granite ledges crop out near the spot where the brooks 
enter the river, but most of the watershed, within Clinton 
limits, is covered to a considerable depth with sand de- 
posited upon a slate foundation. There are several depres- 
sions among these sand hills that look as if they might 
formerly have been filled with water like the pond basins of 
which we have already spoken. Two of these near the river 
are especially interesting. This same sand formation pre- 
vails to the west and northwest of Sandy Pond.* 

As there are no other tributaries of the Nashua in the 
southern part of the town, we can best understand the 
general nature of its surface by passing at once to the tribu- 
taries in the northern section. A stream known as Dean's, 
Goodrich or Gutteridge Brook, after having flowed for nearly 
a mile through Clinton territory, enters the river from the 
west, just beyond the boundary line within the limits of 
Lancaster. This stream rises in the Sterling hills and passes 
through the Deer's Horns district in Lancaster. In this dis- 
trict are the Four Ponds and two mill privileges. There was 
formerly another mill half a mile or more down the stream. 
Soon after leaving Four Ponds, the valley of the brook is 
bounded on the south by the high sand terrace upon which 
the Driving Park is situated. Further on, a similar terrace 

* The physical features of this district have been presented more 
minutely, as it will soon be submerged by the waters of the Metropolitan 
Reservoir and thus pass from the memory of man. 



12 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 

appears upon the northern side of the stream. Standing 
upon the point of the southern terrace which projects to the 
northeast, we can look back through the valley. The plain 
of the terrace, half a mile away to the north, is nearly at a 
level with that on which we are standing. The brook, flow- 
ing a hundred feet below, is hidden by the alders and maples 
that grow along its banks, between the evergreen pines and 
hemlocks that fill the slopes and crowd down toward the 
stream. Turning toward the east, we see the lower valley, 
which lies within Clinton territory, spread out before us. To 
the southeast lies Sylvan Grove, separated from us by a de- 
pression, through which, in the wet season, a little branch 
joins the main brook. To the northeast are the gently slop- 
ing hills of South Lancaster, while between are the meadows 
and a shallow pond of some four acres in extent. From 
this, the stream passes under the Boston & Maine Railroad. 
Then there is another pond with an area of about an acre. 
These ponds form the reservoir for Fuller's Saw Mill. The 
fall of the stream at this point is sixteen feet, which gives 
a water privilege of some ten horse power during nine 
months in a year. The brook now enters the intervale of 
the Nashua and soon after empties its waters into the river. 

The terrace plain on which the Driving Park is situated 
forms the crest of the watershed between Goodrich Brook 
on the northwest and South Meadow and Rigby Brooks on 
the southeast. It is more than a mile in length, and in some 
places above half a mile in breadth. Only the eastern part 
of it is in Clinton. In general, the surface is remarkably 
level, but there are numerous gullies along the edges. Fine 
views of the valley of Rigby Brook, with the town of Clinton 
in the background, can be obtained from the hospital 
grounds near the southeastern edge of the terrace. 

Rigby Brook is for the most part formed from springs 
which originate in the underground leakage of Mossy Pond. 
This pond, like Clamshell and Sandy with its little com- 



MOSSY POND AND RIGBY BROOK. 13 

panions, is natural, while all the other Clinton ponds have 
been made by damming the streams. The area of Mossy 
Pond, as it is today, is thirty-three and four hundred and 
thirty-seven thousandths acres. In its natural state, how- 
ever, it was considerably less. It is very irregular in outline. 
The shores in general rise abruptly from the waters to a 
height of twenty feet or more. Not far from the opposite 
side of the pond, there is a long narrow island. Another, 
formerly known as the "Floating Island," from its change of 
position, was in 1888 in part attached to the mainland south- 
east of the coffer dam, while the other section was many 
rods further to the south. Both parts were composed of 
moss and roots which made a mat of varying thickness. 
This yielded beneath the feet and a pole could be thrust 
through it into the water below. Bushes and even trees 
grew upon these islands, and they were the chosen home of 
the pitcher plant and Labrador tea. These islands are now 
more broken up and lie along the southern shore of the 
pond. The name of this pond is derived from the thick 
moss with which the bottom is covered. 

The pond, before it was joined to the Clinton Company's 
reservoir, had no permanent inlet, but, like all our other 
natural ponds, was fed by springs. Its leakage into Rigby 
Brook now passes underground through springs which 
bubble up a few rods below the dam. The water of the 
brook is strongly impregnated with iron, which covers its 
surface with irridescent hues and appears as a thick ochrey 
deposit on the bottom. Previous to the freshet of 1876, this 
stream furnished water for a tannery on Sterling Street and 
gave power for three small comb shops near North Main 
Street where several little artificial ponds were strung along 
its rapidly descending course. Less than a mile from its 
source, it joins South Meadow Brook, and the united waters 
of the two fill the five-acre reservoir of Fuller's Pond, and 
furnish a water privilege of ten horse power for Rodger's 
Mill. The waters of the brook below Rodger's Mill pass 
through Currier's Flat and then enter into the river. 



14 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 



Originally there was a loose, natural dam at the northern 
end of Mossy Pond. This had been strengthened a little by 
the Clinton Company, when the ponds were connected and 
their level raised. But in the spring of 1876, this dam 
broke away and Mossy Pond, together with the whole reser- 
voir with which it had been joined, was precipitated, an 
irresistible flood into the valley of Rigby Brook. It swept 
away all the dams and manufacturing buildings along its 
course. The rebuilding of the dam restored the former con- 
dition of Mossy Pond, but the smaller dams, except the one 
at Fuller's Pond, have never been replaced. 

Returning to Mossy Pond, we find between it and Sandy 
Pond, which lies more than half a mile away to the south, 
an irregularly shaped, low lying tract of land now filled with 
water, but formerly a swamp and meadow. That section 
which is to the southwest of Mossy Pond was known as 
South Meadow. Through it flowed a stream which was 
known as South Meadow Brook. A boy could easily jump 
across it. This stream was formed in the meadow near the 
present Lancaster line by the union of two water courses 
which drained the Sterling and Lancaster hills west of the 
present Clinton boundary. Doubtless, this brook received 
some additions from the leakage of Mossy Pond, and as it 
turned northward around the ledges of slate which underlie 
the southern spur of Cemetery Hill, it also drained the 
swamp west of Burditt Hill, into which some water probably 
oozed from Sandy Pond. To the east of Cemetery Hill, 
there was a considerable descent in the stream, and here a 
dam was built and a little pond formed in very early times. 
After various changes, early in the nineteenth century 
Poignand & Plant raised the dam and enlarged the pond. 
They also dug a canal, or enlarged one previously made 
through the swamp to Sandy Pond, that they might use its 
waters. It was nearly the middle of the century before the 
Clinton Company constructed a dam which flowed the whole 



SOUTH MEADOW BROOK. 1 5 

swamp and meadow and made Sandy and Mossy Ponds a 
part of its great united reservoir. 

The body of water which filled the swamp to the west of 
Burditt Hill was called "Coachlace," or "Clinton Mill" Pond. 
It is a mile in length and of varying breadth. Its depth is 
so small at the southern end that in the dry season a boat 
can hardly find its way among the decaying stumps which 
mark the position of the trees that grew in the swamp, but 
near the dam at the northern end, where the Factory Pond 
used to be, the depth in some places exceeds twenty feet. 
There is another little pond known as Duck Harbor Pond 
which is separated from Coachlace by the Boston & Maine 
Railroad. The area of these two ponds together is sixty-five 
and four hundred and one thousandths acres. This railroad 
also forms the division line between Coachlace and South 
Meadow Ponds. The latter pond is divided into two parts 
by the South Meadow Road. The section to the east of the 
road has an acreage of forty and seven hundred and twenty- 
nine thousandths. This section of South Meadow Pond is 
for the most part separated from Mossy Pond by a large, 
well-wooded peninsular from which the coffer dam before 
mentioned runs to the mainland. 

The section of South Meadow Pond west of the road has 
an extent of forty-five and three hundred and twenty-one 
thousandths acres. The two streams from the western hills 
which we have spoken of as formerly joining to form South 
Meadow Brook, now pour into this western division of the 
pond within the limits of Lancaster. The larger of these 
drains the hills to the southwest and the smaller comes from 
the northwest. The whole storage basin includes two hun- 
dred and thirty-two and six hundred and seventy-six thou- 
sandths acres, and drains a watershed of over three thousand. 
The flow line of the Bigelow Carpet Company is three 
hundred and twenty-six and seven hundred and eighty-one 
thousandths feet above sea level. The fall at the water 
wheel of the Company is forty-three feet from the full pond. 



l6 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 

The brook flows on for nearly half a mile below Coachlace 
Pond, between Cemetery Hill on the west and Burditt and 
Harris Hills upon the east, until another descent offers 
another opportunity for a water privilege. Here a dam was 
constructed and a mill built in 1653, and for over a century 
and a half this mill and its successor formed the business 
centre of the town. The pond made by the dam at this 
point was known in more recent years as Counterpane Pond. 
This pond became a nuisance as the town became thickly 
settled, because the sewerage was poured into it from the 
higher land around. The Bigelow Carpet Company gained 
control of the water privileges and gradually contracted the 
area of the pond. In 1890, the dam was destroyed and the 
pond disappeared altogether. The fall from this pond was 
sixty-two feet and the water privilege was estimated to give 
forty horse power. The stream flows on for another half mile 
from the point where this dam formerly stood before it 
receives the waters of Rigby Brook. 

The elevation which forms the water-shed between Rigby 
and South Meadow Brooks reaches its highest point in Cem- 
etery Hill. The eastern part of this elevation has in a large 
measure been leveled, and thus Chapel and Liberty Hills, 
which stood on either side of Main Street, just south of its 
junction with Water, have disappeared. To the north, this 
elevation sinks to the terrace plain of North Main Street, but 
is still considerably above the valley of South Meadow 
Brook. 

It remains to speak of the tract between South Meadow 
Brook and its reservoirs on the west and the Nashua on the 
east. Beginning at the north, we find, near the mouth of 
South Meadow Brook above the intervale already men- 
tioned as Currier's Flats, a tongue of land known as the Plain. 
This is about half a mile in length and in the southern part 
more than half as much in breadth. The elevation of this 
plain is three hundred and eleven feet above sea level at the 



FROM THE PLAIN TO BURDITT HILL. 



T7 



junction of High and Water Streets. It slopes gradually 
toward the north until it sinks suddenly to the intervale 
two hundred and thirty-five feet above sea level. The 
sand formation prevails here, as in all the terrace plains 
of which we have before spoken, and from either side, we can 
look down from steep bluffs on the water course below. 

As we reach the old basin of Counterpane Pond on the 
west and the northward bend in the river on the east, the 
plain ends and we have a hill with a general rise from the 
pond to Swinscoe's Bluff, which overlooks the river to the 
north and east. 

Going southward from Swinscoe's Bluff along the crest of 
the elevation, after a slight depression, we rise towards the 
summit of Harris Hill. The river is here flowing half a mile 
to the east of our course. The western slopes toward South 
Meadow Brook of about the same length are now thickly 
settled, but they were in earlier times covered with a densely 
wooded swamp. A clayey soil is found upon this slope to a 
considerable depth, except at one point a few rods northwest 
of the corner of Church and Walnut streets where the slate 
ledge crops out. The summit of the hill is composed of 
quartzite, which is divided from the granite by a clearly 
marked line, which extends southwesterly from the river 
along the ledge of Harris Hill to Rattlesnake Ledge of 
Burditt Hill. The ledge at Harris Hill has, at one part known 
as the Lover's Leap, an almost perpendicular descent of con- 
siderably over a hundred feet.* 



*The following table of elevations above a sea level is taken from 
the road commissioners' map of the town : 

Union Boston and Main Railroad and Sterling Street 307 

" Church and Main 293.1 

" " " High 332.9 

" '• " Chestnut 371-5 

" " " Cedar 439-8 

" Chestnut and Mechanic 354 

" Franklin and School 404.3 

" Park and Winter 500 

3 



l8 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 

To the north, from this hill-top, stretches the broad far- 
reaching expanse of the valley of the Nashua. To the east, 
lie the Bolton hills with the river near at hand. To the 
south, the Lancaster Mills' Pond reposing between the lofty 
hills adds a most unique and picturesque feature to the land- 
scape. To the west, the calm majesty of Wachusett crowns 
the prospect and the setting sun bathes the mountain and the 
whole intervening valley in matchless beauty. 

Pursuing our course along the crest of the elevation, we 
pass through a depression between Harris and Burditt Hills. 
To our right lies a narrow valley formerly known as Slab 
Meadow, now occupied by the Bigelow Carpet mill. We 
ascend the steep side of Burditt Hill with an ever widening 
prospect opening below us. Now, we have reached Point 
Lookout, the northeasterly elevation of the hill. Passing 
over or around the little peat meadow which lies to the south- 
west, we reach the highest crest of the hill about five hun- 
dred and twenty feet above sea level. The prospect to the 
north and west is impeded by the trees and the breadth of 
the hill-top, but to the east, the Lancaster Mills' Pond lies at 
the foot of Rattlesnake Ledge. To the south, the eye trav- 
erses a mile of oak and chestnut forest to the valley of Mine 
Swamp Brook, from which, it rises to the hills of Boylston. 

Moving a few rods northward from the highest point, we 
come to the northern brow of the hill which is now occupied 
by the reservoir of the Clinton water supply. The surface 
of the water is five hundred and eight feet above sea level. 
Here, although the breadth of the hill-top obstructs the view 
of everything that is situated near the base, yet the distant 
panorama lies spread out in charming variety. To the east, 
we see Wilder and Wilson Hills with their lower prolonga- 
tion to the northward, beyond rises Snake Hill in Berlin and 
the spires of Marlboro can be seen above the forests. Fur- 
ther to the north lies the highest point between Wachusett 
and the ocean, Wataquadock Hill in Bolton. Then the eye 
pauses for a moment on the village of Still River, resting so 








O a 



SUMMARY. 



19 



peacefull)' on the southern slopes of the hills of Harvard. 
If we turn to the west, we can catch glimpses of the ponds. 
Beyond are the hills of Boylston, Lancaster and Sterling, 
with those of Holden, Rutland and Princeton in the back- 
ground. Turning still further northward, we come to Little 
Wachusett, and finally to the grand old mountain itself. 
Following on to the north come the many elevations of Lan- 
caster, Leominster, Fitchburg and Lunenburg, and in the 
distance, one can scarcely distinguish the dim blue of Monad- 
nock from the sky, with which it seems to mingle. We bring 
our eyes downward through the valley until we rest them 
upon the borders of our own town. 

The physical characteristics of Clinton, which we have 
been considering in detail, we are now able to view more 
comprehensively. We can see the position of the town in 
relation to its surroundings, a position, which makes it a nat- 
ural center of trade for the farming regions round about and 
at the same time gives to its inhabitants opportunities for a 
remarkable variety of beautiful drives and walks. We can 
see the ever changing surface of hill and plain and valley, a 
continual source of delight to those who enjoy the charms 
of nature and a means of health to those who would live in 
the purer air above the fogs of pond and river. We can see 
how these hills, in and about the town, make it easy to ob- 
tain, store and distribute water and carry away the drainage 
and sewerage. We can see how the river and its tributaries 
passing through these hills must naturally furnish abundant 
water power, a water power which was the incentive to the 
first settlement and earlier development of the town, and is 
still an important factor in its industrial prosperity. 



CHAPTER II. 

SCIENTIFIC NOTES. 

The student of nature, unsatisfied with the outline of the 
physical geography of the town, may wish to inquire more 
closely into the work of natural forces in the past. 

Such a student can find in the surface rocks of Clinton 
no record of any time earlier than the Carboniferous Age, 
save in the hornblende-schist in the southeast corner of the 
town. Near the beginning of this age, untold centuries ago, 
the quartzite rock which appears in the eastern ledges of 
Harris and Burditt Hills, was deposited by a vast body of 
water, reaching from New Hampshire through Massachu- 
setts, towards Connecticut and Rhode Island. Here, the 
water must have been at least several miles in breadth, as 
this same bed of quartzite appears again far to the west of 
Clinton limits. This quartzite, which often shows the 
structure of conglomerate, was deposited in the form of 
sand, with occasional layers of small pebbles, but as the 
movement of the water became retarded, the sediment was 
deposited in the finer form of clay. Layer by layer through 
long periods of geologic time, this clay grew to a great 
thickness. 

In certain places, like the present top of Burditt Hill, 
the water sank, or the land rose, so that portions of the clay 
bed appeared as morasses, or swamps, which supported the 
vegetation characteristic of the age. The remains of this 
vegetation are still found in the mixture of anthracite and 
graphite which occurs in the slate, made from the clay. 



GEOLOGY OF THE ROCKS. 21 

While the structure of these rocks and their composition 
show that they are formed of sand and clay deposited from 
water, while their position in their relations to other rocks 
gives evidence of the time of their deposit, while the shape 
of the bed proves much regarding the shape and size of the 
body of water which dropped one by one the grains of sand 
and clay of which the quartzite and slate are composed, yet 
the rocks in themselves have not been found to contain any 
fossils to reveal the life of the time. In Worcester, how- 
ever, in the same deposits, certain fossils have been found. 
The coal beds of various regions, which were a product of 
the same age, enable us to know many of the growths, of 
which our formless graphite and anthracite are the only 
relics left to us here. There were the cone-bearing trees, dis- 
tantly allied to those of the present; the lycopodium, 
similar to our ground pines, but woody in structure and 
growing to a great height ; ferns, some low and herbaceous, 
like those which grow here today, others like the tree fern 
in size, with fronds six feet or more in length ; calamites, 
resembling our jointed rushes, but growing man)- times as 
tall; above all, the sigillaria with their branchless trunks, 
rising sixty feet in the air and covered with long, narrow 
leaves. These were some of the characteristic growths of 
the Carboniferous Age. From this luxuriant vegetation, 
were stored up the coal and oil for the future use of man. 
Such were the growths from which our graphite was made. 
The fact that the amount of graphite is small in this locality 
does not prove a meagreness of vegetation, but simply 
shows that the conditions were not favorable for its preser- 
vation, in other words, that the vegetable matter deca}'ed 
because it was not kept from the oxygen of the air. Just 
when the clay and sand were hardened into slate and 
quartzite is unknown, but the change must have occurred 
before the close of the Carboniferous Period, and was due to 
forces which affected the whole of New England. 

Sometime between the close of the Carboniferous Period 



22 SCIENTIFIC NOTES. 

and the beginning of the Triassic, the molten interior of the 
earth gave birth to forces too strong to be resisted by the 
rocks above. An equilibrium was restored by the molten 
mass intruding into the crust and melting, or metarmorphos- 
ing all that came in contact with it. As it cooled, it formed 
the granite rock, which appears as an oval of a mile or more 
in width to the east of Harris and Burditt Hills, and in 
various other places in this vicinity. That this rock is 
igneous in its nature is proved by the fact that it has no 
stratification except such as came from banding caused by 
pressure. Indeed, the rock on the hill to the west of Clam- 
shell Pond is so evidently igneous in its origin, that the 
farmers of the region were accustomed to call it volcanic 
before it had been examined by a scientist. The meta- 
morphism which occurred when the molten mass came in 
contact with the schist, quartzite and argillite, made many 
changes in the rocks, which vary from entire melting and re- 
cooling with crystallization, to scarcely noticeable modi- 
fications. 

An examination of the map will show that the bed of 
slate, or argillite, underlies all that part of the town north- 
west of Burditt and Harris Hills. This bed of slate reaches 
to the Sterling hills. It grows more narrow to the south in 
Boylston, and broadens to the north in Lancaster. This 
slate is bounded on the east and west by quartzite. This 
quartzite, as it appears on the crest of Harris Hill, is only a 
few rods in width. There is a geologic fault to the east of 
Burditt Hill, at the Oxbow. The slate and the quartzite 
each appear to the east of their natural position. To the 
east of this fault, there is a small area of hornblende-schist. 
This schist divides the granite to the north and south into 
two great areas lying to the east of the quartzite. The line 
of contact between the granite and quartzite can be traced 
with this single interruption from northeastward of Clinton 
limits along the crests of Harris and Burditt Hills, far to the 
southward. Beyond this granite, in Bolton, Berlin and 



GEOLOGY OF THE ROCKS. 



23 



Northboro, is a mica-schist, which is known as the Brimfield 
fibrolite graphite schist. Still further to the east, is the 
Bolton gneiss with occasional masses of limestone. Calcite 
is also found in the slate east of the river. The Brimfield 
schist and Bolton gneiss are Silurian in their origin. 

No traces now remain of any bed-rock formed in this 
territory after this intrusion, and indeed thousands of feet in 
thickness of the schist, quartzite and slate, and even some 
of the intruding granite have since been worn away by the 
action of various chemical and physical forces. If, at an}' 
point near the center of the town, west of the quartzite 
ledge, we should bore down deeply into the earth, we should 
first pass through the slate, then the quartzite, and then 
reach the granite. If there had been no erosion, the slate 
and the quartzite would probably lie upon the granite now 
exposed to a depth of thousands of feet. 

All geological record ceases in this section after the 
changes which came from the intrusion of the granite. Age 
after age, each many thousands of years in duration, passed 
by and left no trace that the scientist of today can discover. 
It is not until we approach the age of man, at the close of 
the Post-Tertiary Period, that we again find evidence of the 
working of the forces of nature. These forces were so 
destructive in their character that they must of necessity 
have destroyed all vestiges of previous action, unless these 
were very deeply embedded in the rocks. 

Certain astronomical changes, accompanied, it may be, 
by the elevation of the northern part of North America, so 
lowered the mean average temperature that the eastern half 
of the United States, as far south as Pennsylvania, was 
covered with fields of ice called glaciers. The action of the 
glaciers on the mountain tops proves that these must have 
been several thousand feet in thickness. These glaciers 
inoved slowly southward, pressed on by the accumulating 
mass from behind. The vast weight of the moving ice 
ground up the softer rocks on which it pressed, and boulders, 



24 SCIENTIFIC NOTES. 

large and small, loosened and torn up by the solid current, 
were carried along grinding and breaking other rocks, while 
they in their turn, were ground and broken by them. The 
material, thus loosened and ground, was transported south- 
ward. Such was the origin of most of the loose rocks, 
gravel, sand and clay which lie above the bed-rocks of 
Clinton and all the northeastern portion of America today. 
These materials have been much modified since in character 
and distribution by chemical action and the physical forces 
of heat and gravitation acting through air and water. 

Our town is peculiarly rich in evidences of glacial action. 
In the argillite rocks to the east of North Main Street, along 
Rigby Brook, there are distinct grooves made by the glaciers. 
These vary from several feet to less than an inch in depth, 
and their breadth is usually from three to ten times their 
depth. These grooves are parallel to each other and run 
from north to south. There are also many glacial scratches 
on other rocks. As the argillite has been covered since the 
glacial period until the "Washaway" of 1876, by a mass of 
gravel, these grooves and scratches have not been obliterated 
by the forces that worked upon the exposed rocks, and thus 
they still record to the seeing eye as plainly as the pen of 
man could do, the direction and enormous power of the 
forces that produced them. Not only were these little 
grooves made, but the continual action of this grinding force, 
working through long periods of time, greatly lowered the 
level of all our softer rocks. It helped prepare a valley for 
the course of the Nashua. The combination of the pressed 
granite and hardened quartzite in the ledges of Harris and 
Burditt Hills, was able to divide the bottom of the south- 
ward moving ice, so that a part ground its way through the 
granite at the east, and a part through the slate at the west, 
leaving the resisting crest of the hills much higher than the 
valley on either side. 

The materials transported hither by the glaciers, can in 
many cases be traced to the very ledges from which they 



GLACIAL ACTION. 



25 



came. The frequently occurring boulders of slate, contain- 
ing the white, cross-shaped crystals of chiastolite were once 
a part, in all probability, of the ledges on George Hill, of 
Lancaster. The boulders and pebbles, containing dark, col- 
umn shaped crystals of tourmaline, were originally broken 
from the Fitchburg granite. The hard, heavy boulders of 
dark green trap, the rusty exteriors of which show that they 
abound in iron, are followed to their source with more diffi- 
culty, but they doubtless came from some of the many dikes 
of that igneous rock which are found in the hills and moun- 
tains to the northeast of Clinton. On the farm of Eli Saw- 
yer, east of Chace Street, is an immense granite boulder with 
well rounded sides, weighing many hundred tons. By Clam- 
shell Pond is the rock formerly known as the Rocking Stone. 
There are many other notable single rocks transported by 
the ice and left in spots which they never could have reached 
by any other known method than that under consideration. 

The general mass of rocks, gravel, sand and clay trans- 
ported by the glaciers, containing materials which could not 
have originated where they now rest, or from any ledges to 
the south of their present location, is the most conclusive 
evidence that they must have been brought from the ledges, 
which contain similar materials, to the north, by some mighty 
force such as is only to be found in the glacial action. This 
mass of materials called by the geologist by the suggestive 
name of drift, covers most of the ledges of Clinton. .Some- 
times, it has been left in the moraines as huge hills, some- 
times, it is spread out more evenly and, sometimes, has been 
sifted and arranged by the action of water into flat terraces. 

It is possible that the deep holes in the southwestern part 
of the town, in two of which are contained Sandy Pond and 
Howe's Duck Pond, were made by enormous masses of ice 
which were left buried in the drift as the glaciers retreated 
northward. 

After the temperature became modified, the water pro- 
duced by the melting of this great mass of ice several thou- 



26 SCIENTIFIC NOTES. 

sand feet in thickness and covering half a continent, was 
added to the usual rainfall. The rivers were of necessity 
very much larger than they are now. Moreover they had 
not yet worn out their channels, and met with frequent ob- 
structions which dammed their onward courses. As a result 
of these conditions, there were immense rivers and a great 
abundance of lakes and ponds. 

Most of the present territory of Clinton was under water. 
The tops of Burditt and Harris Hills appeared as two islands 
which were afterwards united into one, as some obstruction 
or natural dam gave way and the waters were lowered. 
The river or lake with its frequent overflows, deposited on 
its sides, and more particularly upon the intervales beyond 
its banks, a vast mass of the sand, washed out by its current 
from the drift through which it flowed. The sand upon 
these intervales took the form of terraces, which became 
lower as the obstructions to the stream gave way one after 
another, The highest of these terrace formations now ob- 
servable, appears in the Trotting Park, Swincoe's Bluff and 
the sand hill along the river above Carter's Mill. These are 
of nearly the same level. These terraces have been much 
worn by streams running down their sides, and thus their 
margins have been made irregular. Goodrich, Rigby and 
South Meadow Brooks helped to wear away this sand forma- 
tion and hollowed out great valleys for themselves. In 
time, some other natural obstruction gave way just as the 
dam of Mossy Pond gave way in 1876, and the waters reached 
a new level. The next prominent terrace marking a decline 
in the river is known as the Plain. The western end of this 
is gullied by the valleys of South Meadow and Rigby 
Brooks. The last great terrace is the present river inter- 
vale reaching with varying width from Currier's Flats to 
Lancaster Mills.* 



* No fossils have been found in the drift or alluvial deposits of Clinton 
to show the character of the animals or plants of the period, but in the 



POST-GLACIAL GEOLOGY. 27 

As the mineralogy of the section has been treated in con- 
nection with the geology nothing more need be added except 
a brief summary. There are only four kinds of rock in the 
ledges of Clinton : hornblende-schist, granite, quartzite and 
slate. Boulders of trap and mica-schist are found. None 
of these rocks have any commercial value except for rough 
stone work, as in walls and foundation stones. The horn- 
blende-schist and trap or diabase, are both composed for the 
most part of hornblende, which is also found to a slight ex- 
tent in some of the granite. Mica constitutes the main body 
of the mica-schist and is found in the granite. The varieties 
are biotite and muscovite. The quartzite is made of ground 
quartz, and this mineral is a large constituent of the granite, 
and occurs in all the other rocks and in the sand. Feldspar 
of the variety known as microcline is next to quartz the most 
important mineral in the granite. A large portion of the 
slate and clay are feldspathic in their origin. Graphite, 
anthracite coal and iron pyrites occur in the slate ledges. 
Chiastolite is found in the slate boulders from George Hill 
and tourmaline in the granite boulders from Fitchburg. Bog 
iron ore, washed from the slate and clay is found in our 
meadows. None of these minerals, as found here have much 
commercial value. There is plenty of sand, fitted for plaster, 
and some clay, suitable for bricks, and good material for 
road-making is abundant. 

For a town of small area, Clinton has a good variety of 
vegetation. The soil in the southeastern part of the town is 
that characteristic of a granite foundation, that in the north- 
neighboring town of Shrewsbury the remains of a huge mastadon were 
found in 1886. Geological changes are still going on; dams, natural 
and artificial, are still likely to be built or destroyed; the river is con- 
stantly its course; the rocks are still being disintegrated by chemical 
action and frost. The materials of the hills are being gradually carried 
into the valleys by the moving waters. The changes taking place in 
Clinton to-day differ from those in the past in degree more than in char- 
acter. 



28 SCIENTIFIC NOTES. 

western part is argillaceous in its nature. In some places 
on the terraces, the sand is only covered with the thinnest 
coating of light loam through which the moisture soon sinks 
and disappears. In other places, a thick, cold, heavy soil 
rests upon clay that is almost impervious to moisture. These 
two kinds of soil lie at the extremes, and the one gradually 
merges into the other. The soil is also modified by differ- 
ent varieties of leaf mould, recent deposits from the river 
and its tributaries and accumulations of peat and muck. 
We also have swamps and rocky hillsides, a river, brooks, 
and ponds with sandy, muddy and mossy bottoms and float- 
ing and stationary islands. From such a variety of condi- 
tions, a great variety of plant life must necessarily result.* 

*This list contains nearly five hundred flowering plants found grow- 
ing spontaneously in Clinton and vicinity. No sedges, grasses or flower- 
less plants are given. The following abbreviations are used : A., 
American; Can., Canadian; c, common; e., early; fl., flowered; 1., leaved; 
p., purple; r., round; sm., small; sp., spotted; t., tall; Vir., Virginian. 

Clematis, c; Anemone, Vir., wood ; Hepatica, r-lobed ; Meadow-rue, 
e.. t., p.; Rue-anemone ; Buttercup, sm.-fl., hooked, e., t., creeping, bulb- 
ous ; Marsh Marigold ; Goldthread, 3-I ; Columbine ; Baneberry, red, 
white; Barberry, c; Blue Cohosh; May-apple; Water Shield; Water 
Lily, sweet scented ; Yellow Pond Lily ; Pitcher Plant, p ; Celandine ; 
Blood-root; Corydalis, pale: Water Cress, c; Marsh Cress; Horse- 
radish; Bitter Cress, sm,; Rock Cress, Can.; Winter Cress, c; Hedge 
Mustard, c; Mustard, black ; Shepherd's Purse ; Peppergrass ; Radish, 
jointed ; Violet, round-I., lance-L, primrose-1., sweet white, hood-1., 
arrow-L, bird-foot-1., woody, downy yellow ; Rock-rose, Can.; Pinweed, 
sm.; Sundew, r.-l.; St. John's Wort, elliptical-1., c, sm.. Can., sp.; Marsh 
St. John's Wort ; Soapwort ; Cow-herb ; Campion, bladder ; Cockle, 
evening, corn ; Sandwort; Chickweed, c, long-1.; Mouse-ear Chickweed, 
c, clammy, field ; Sand Spurrey, red ; Spurrey, corn ; Indian Chickweed ; 
Purslane, c; Spring Beauty, broad-I.; Mallow, c, high, musk ; Bass wood, 
c; Flax, c; Cranesbill, sp., Carohna, Herb Robert; Balsam, pale, sp.; 
Wood Sorrel, yellow, true ; Prickly Ash ; Sumach, staghorn, smooth, 
dwarf ; Poison Dogwood ; Poison Ivy ; Grape, fox, frost ; Woodbine ; 
Buckthorn, c; Bittersweet, climbing; Maple, white, red, rock, striped, 
mountain; Milkwort, fringed, rose-p, whorled-1.; Lupine ; Clover, rabbit- 
foot, red, white, yellow, low hop ; Sweet Clover ; Locust-tree, c, clammy ; 



BOTANY. 



29 



In the past, considerable revenue has been derived from 
the woodlands. The pine was sawn nto lumber, the chest- 
nut was made into railroad ties, and every variety of wood 
was cut for fuel. Little standing wood now remains, and 
what is left seems destined to soon disappear. The pastur- 

Tick-Trefoil, r.-l., Can., panicled ; Bush-Clover, violet ; Vetch, c; 
Ground-nut ; Hog Peanut ; Wild Indigo ; Senna : Cherry, red, black, 
choke; Meadow-Sweet, c; Hardhack ; Agrimony, c; Avens, white, p., 
Vir.; Cinquefoil, Can., Norway, silvery, shrubby; Strawberry, Vir., c; 
Raspberry, p.-fl., dwarf, red, black ; Blackberry, high, low, running ; 
Rose, swamp, dwarf, c; Sweet-brier; Hawthorn, scarlet-fruited; Choke- 
berry ; Mountain-ash, A.; Gooseberry; Currant, fetid, black, red; Saxi- 
frage, e., swamp; Mitre-wort, two-1.; False Mitre-wort; Golden Saxi- 
frage ; Ditch Stone-crop ; Live-For-Ever ; Witch-Hazel ; Enchanter's 
Nightshade ; Willow-herb, great, downy, colored ; Evening Prim- 
rose, c; Sundrops ; False Loosestrife, alternate-1., swamp; One- 
seeded Star Cucumber; Carrot, c; Archangelica, great; Meadow- 
parsnip, golden ; Caraway ; Water-Hemlock, sp.; Water-parsnip ; Sweet 
Cicely, smooth, hairy ; Poison Hemlock, sp.; Ginseng, dwarf; Spikenard ; 
Sarsaparilla, bristly, naked-stemmed ; Dogwood, flowering, panicled, 
silky, alternate-1.; Bunch-berry; Honeysuckle, fly, mountain-fly ; Bush 
Honeysuckle, c; Elder, c, red-berried ; Viburnum, sweet, maple-leaved ; 
Withe-rod ; Cranberry-tree ; Hobble-bush ; Bedstraw, rough, sm., sweet- 
scented, narrow-1.; Button-bush; Partridge-berry; Innocence or Bluets ; 
Iron-weed, c; Blazing Star, c; Thoroughwort. p., white ; White Snake- 
root ; White-topped Aster ; Aster, corymbed, large-1., heart-1., wavy-1., 
smooth, red-stemmed, long-1., many-fl., bushy. New England, narrow-1., 
panicled, umbelled, willow-1.; Fleabane, c, daisy ; Horse-weed ; Robin's 
Plantain ; Golden-rod, two-colored, broad-1., smooth, high. Can., narrow-1., 
elm-1., and innumerable other species ; Elecampane, c; Ragweed ; 
Cone-flower, c; Sunflower, c; Bur-marigold, c, swamp, smaller, larger; 
Mayweed ; Chamomile, corn ; Yarrow ;Ox-eye Daisy ; Tansy, c; Worm- 
wood, c; Mugwort, c; Cudweed, c; Everlasting, pearly, plantain-1.; 
Golden Ragwort; Thistle, c. Can.; Burdock; Chicory; Dwarf Dande- 
lion ; Fall Dandelion ; Hawkweed, Can., rough, hairy, panicled ; Rattle- 
snake-root; White Lettuce; Lion's-foot; Dandelion; Lettuce, Can.; Sow- 
thistle, spiny-1., field ; Cardinal Flower ; Indian Tobacco; Huckleberry; 
Dangleberry; Blueberry, dwarf, low, high; Cranberry, sm., large; Bear- 
berry ; Mayflower; Wintergreen ; Leather Leaf; Andromeda; White 
Alder; Laurel, mountain, sheep, pale; Azalea, clammy, p.; Labrador 
Tea; Shin Leaf ; One-fl. Pyrola ; Prince's Pine ; Indian Pipe ; Pine- 



30 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES. 



age is still utilized to some slight extent. Thus our vegeta- 
tion has little interest except to the scientist and lover of the 
beautiful. The subjoined list may serve to these as a remin- 
der, by which they may call up volumes. 

sap ; Plantain, c; Star-flower ; Loosestrife, c, four-1., (stricta), (ciliata); 
Bladderwort, c; Beech-drops ; Squaw-root ; Broom-rape ; Mullein, c, 
moth; Toad-flax, Can., c; Snake-head; Monkey-flower; Hedge Hys- 
sop, Vir., golden; False Pimpernel ; Speedwell, c, thyme-leaved, corn ; 
Gerardia, p., yellow, oak-1.; Painted Cup; Lousewort, c; Cow-wheat; 
Verbena, blue, white ; Blue Curls ; False Pennyroyal ; Spearmint ; Pep- 
permint ; Wild Mint ; Bugle-weed ; Basil ; Pennyroyal, A ; Catnip ; 
Ground Ivy ; Self-heal ; Scullcap, mad-dog ; Hedge-Nettle, swamp ; 
Motherwort ; Comfrey, c; Forget-me-not, true ; Hound's Tongue, c; 
Bindweed, field ; Bracted Bindweed, hedge ; Dodder ; Nightshade, c; 
Bittersweet ; Gentian, fringed, closed ; Buckbean ; Floating Heart ; 
Dogbane, spreading ; Indian Hemp ; Milkweed, c, poke, p., four-1., 
swamp ; Ash, white, black ; Wild Ginger, Can.; Pokeweed, c; Goose- 
foot, white, maple-1.; Jerusalem Oak ; Amaranth, white ; Knotweed, 
Penn., erect ; Water-pepper ; Door-weed ; Halberd-leaved Tear-thumb; 
Arrow-leaved T; Black Bind-weed ; Buckwheat; Dock, bitter, sm.; 
Sheep Sorrel ; Sassafras ; Spice-bush ; Leatherwood ; Bastard Toad- 
flax ; Spurge, sp.; Three-seeded Mercury ; Elm, slippery, white ; Nettle, 
c, graceful; Wood-nettle; Richweed ; False Nettle; Hop, c; Button- 
wood ; Butternut ; Shagbark ; Pignut ; Oak, white, chestnut, scrub, 
scarlet, black, red ; Chestnut, A.; Beech, A.; Hazelnut, A.; Hop Horn- 
beam, Vir.; Iron-wood, A.; Bayberry ; Sweet Gale ; Sweet Fern ; Birch, 
black, white, yellow ; Alder, speckled ; Willow, prairie, glaucous, silky, 
heart-1, black, white ; Basket Osier ; Poplar, A., long-toothed ; Balm of 
Gilead ; Pine, pitch, white ; Spruce, black ; Hemlock ; Tamarack, 
A.; Juniper, c; Red Cedar; Jack-in- the-pulpit ; Wild Calla : Skunk 
Cabbage ; Sweet Flag ; Cat-tail, c; Bur-reed, great ; Horn Pond-weed ; 
Pondweed, swimming ; Water-plantain ; Arrow-head, variable ; Showy 
Orchis ; Rein Orchis, ragged-fringed, purple-fringed ; Rattlesnake 
Plantain, creeping, downy ; Ladies' Tresses (cernua), (gracilis): Are- 
thusa ; Pogonia ; Calopogon ; Lady's Slipper, showy, stemless ; Star- 
grass ; Blue Flag ; Blue-eyed Grass ; Greenbrier, c; Carrion Flower ; 
Trillium, erect, nodding, pointed ; Cucumber-root ; False Hellebore ; 
Bellwort, (perfoliata); Wild Oats ; Twisted-stalk, rosy ; Clintonia, north- 
ern ; False Solomon's Seal, racemed, two-1.; Solomon's Seal ; Lily, wood, 
yellow ; Dog's-tooth Violet ; Wood Rush, field ; Rush, c, Can., acumin- 
ate ; Pickerel-weed ; Yellow-eyed Grass, 



ZOOLOGY. 



31 



The zoology of Clinton is also chiefly interesting from 
the point of view of the scientist, sportsman and lover of the 
beautiful in nature. The most prominent exceptions to this 
general statement is to be found in the pests, which cause so 
much trouble in our houses, gardens and orchards. A study 
of these pests and the best methods for exterminating them, 
would have more economic value than the study of all the 
denizens of the woods and streams. For the most part, they 
have followed rather than preceded the coming of civilized 
man, and new ones are even now occasionally added to the 
list. 

The Nashua formerly abounded in salmon, shad and ale- 
wives in their season, but these are of the past. The trout, 
too, has practically disappeared, although it may still be 
occasionally found by the knowing angler. The pickerel is 
the only game fish that remains, and this is not very abun- 
dant. The hornpout, eel and perch are caught to some slight 
extent for table use, while the sucker, the bream, and differ- 
ent varieties of shiners abound. 

Among the batrachia, the usual varieties of turtles, liz- 
ards, salamanders, frogs and toads are found. A specimen 
of the box turtle, which was supposed to have become extinct 
long ago, was recently captured. 

Of the reptiles, the rattlesnake has not been seen for 
nearly a century, and only harmless snakes remain. Of these 
the water snake, the garter snake, the adder, the black snake 
and the green snake are the most common. Any supersti- 
tion in regard to the poisonous character of any of these 
snakes is without foundation. 

The birds of Clinton vary somewhat from year to year, 
but certain kinds generally appear, like chickadees, snow- 
birds, nuthatches, robins, bluebirds, Baltimore orioles, cat- 
birds, cherry birds, scarlet tanagers, flickers, king birds, 
brown thrashers, bobolinks, whippoorwills, cuckoos, cow- 
birds, buntings, crows, jays, chimney swifts, kinglets, gros- 
beaks, and the various kinds of humming birds, vireos, 



32 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES. 



warblers, finches, thrushes, swallows, sparrows, woodpeckers, 
blackbirds and hawks. The sportsman can usually find the 
partridge, quail and woodcock in their season, and occasion- 
ally wild ducks and geese still seek our ponds. The wild 
turkey, the eagle, the swan and pigeon are birds of the dis- 
tant past. The owl and the heron are rarely discovered in 
secret haunts. Many other kinds of birds are seen from time 
to time. 

The beaver, otter and mink must have been very plenti- 
ful in early times along our streams where now only an 
occasional muskrat is found. In the forest, the catamount, 
the wolf, the wildcat, the bear, the moose, the elk and the 
deer were taken even in the eighteenth century. To-day, 
the huntsman considers himself fortunate if he gets a hedge- 
hog, a raccoon or a fox, even by wandering far beyond the 
limits of his town. The pole-cat is still sometimes an un- 
welcome visitor even in the most thickly settled districts. 
The woodchuck and rabbit are common, while the chipmunk 
and the red and grey squirrel are often seen in our shade- 
trees. 



CHAPTER III. 

1653-1682. 
JOHN PRESCOTT, THE PIONEER.* 

There are three factors in the history of any community : 
the physical conditions furnished by nature, the great cur- 
rents of the world's history, and the direct work of individual 
men. 

Until the seventeenth century, the valley of the Nashua 
was in a state of nature, covered with forests and inhabited 
only by wild beasts and savage Indians. The rich hill slopes 
and intervales were uncultivated, and the abundant water 
power of the river and its tributaries had never turned a 
wheel in the service of man. 

Nature, having done her part, had been patiently waiting 
through the long centuries for men who knew how to use 
her gifts. Meanwhile the course of history on another 
continent was slowly preparing the way for the development 

* In preparing this account of Prescolt, the following authorities 
have been consulted : Winthrop's History of New England ; Massa- 
chusetts Records ; Middlesex County Registry ; Memorial of the 
Prescott Family ; Rev. Timothy Harrington's Century Sermon ; Maga- 
zine articles and historical address by Joseph Willard, Esq. ; Rev. A. P. 
Marvin's History of Lancaster; Historical Sketch of Lancaster by Hon. 
Henry S. Nourse, and, above all, the "Early Records of Lancaster," as 
collected and annotated by the same author. In quoting old documents, 
the exact form has been kept as far as possible. 
•i 



34 JOHN PRESCOTT, THE PIONEER. 

of the New World. Explorers were sailing forth into un- 
known seas, warriors were fighting, scholars were studying, 
holy men were praying. At last, the great world currents 
brought a band of Puritans, driven by persecution from their 
native land, to settle on the New England coast. 

The final factor in the origin of this community was still 
lacking, for, at first, the settlements were chiefly around 
Boston, as none wished or dared to strike out for themselves 
and set up homes in the wilderness, with only Indians for 
neighbors. But, at last, came one, whom no danger could 
daunt, no hardship deter, — John Prescott, the pioneer. 
Strong, energetic, noble-hearted and persevering, he was 
well fitted to head the van of civilization and first assert the 
supremacy of man over nature. 

There is little known of Prescott's ancestors. The name 
is of Saxon origin, and means priest-cottage. In the time 
of Queen Elizabeth, we find a record of a Sir James Pres- 
cott, who was ordered by her to keep a horse and armor in 
readiness. He was the great-grandfather of our hero, whose 
parents were Ralph and Ellen Prescott of Shevington, 
Lancashire, England, where John Prescott was born and 
baptized in 1604-5. 

He probably went to school in his boyhood and obtained 
some book knowledge, as we know that, in later life, he 
could read and write and survey land. At an early age, he 
learned the trade of his father, that of the blacksmith, and he 
worked at it for many years. In 1629, he married Mary 
Platts, at Wigan, and soon after sold his land in Shevington, 
and moved to Sowerby, Halifax Parish, West Riding, York- 
shire. There is a very doubtful story, that he worked under 
Oliver Cromwell. He surely had much in common with the 
Puritan leader. Like him, he was a man of great physical 
force, of keen practical insight, of independent theology, 
united with deep religious earnestness, and of an overpower- 
ing will, that pushed on in spite of all obstacles to the 
attainment of its purpose. 



EARLY LIFE. 



35 



Partly, perhaps, on account of religious persecution, and, 
partly, because he had opinions of his own on various other 
matters, and was stubbornly tenacious in clinging to them, 
yet more, probably, because his enterprising nature craved 
• new fields of action, he left England. We find him in the 
Barbadoes in 1638. He did not stay there long, however, 
for in 1640, he was in Boston. Rugged New England was 
more in accord with his stern nature, than the enervating 
and luxurious tropics. He settled in Watertown, where he 
is recorded to have possessed some hundred and twenty-six 
acres of land, and there, he became connected with Henry 
Symonds, Thomas King, and other prominent business men 
who lived in that vicinity. 

There was a small tribe of Indians, called the Nashaways 
or Nashawogs, who then lived between the two Washacum 
Ponds. Probably, at certain seasons of the year, there were 
several outlying families. One of these was in the habit of 
locating east of Clamshell Pond, where the plough of the 
farmer has turned up many an arrow head ; another, just 
above the point where the Lancaster Mills' dam now is. 
The pestilence, which had proved so destructive to the 
Algonquin tribes as a whole, had swept these Indians, nearly 
all, away. They had been forced to fight with the maraud- 
ing Mohawks, and had been defeated by them. Gookin 
says: "These (the Nashaway Indians) have been a great 
people in former times, but of late years have been con- 
sumed by the Maquas wars and other ways, and are not 
above fifteen or sixteen families." Their numbers were 
wasted, their courage was broken, and they thought, if some 
of the white men, of whom they had heard such marvelous 
stories, should come and dwell near them, they would 
receive protection in times of invasion. Accordingly, 
Sholan, the chief of the tribe, made frequent visits to Water- 
town, and urged that a settlement should be made in this 
vicinity. 

At length, eighty square miles of land were purchased of 



36 JOHN PRESCOTT. THE PIONEER. 

the Indians by a company, among the prominent members 
of which were Symonds, King, Childe, Norcross, Day and 
Prescott. Dr. Robert Childe was the best known of these, 
but he, having with others offered a "petition," was driven 
from the colony for "a conspiracy." His liberal political 
views, and his advocacy of liberty of conscience and 
representation as a necessary accompaniment of taxation, 
seemed dangerous to the colonial leaders. His reputation 
made the strict Puritans look askance at his associates. It 
would be most interesting to trace the relations which 
existed between this theorist, so far in advance of his times, 
and Prescott, the man of action, who tried to secure for 
himself in the wilderness the rights that were claimed in 
vain in the older settlements ; but few records of these 
relations now remain. The names of Symonds and King 
soon disappeared from the rolls of the company, the first 
dying in 1643, the second in 1644. It is doubtful, who was 
the first white man, who visited Lancaster. It may have 
been King, or it may have been Prescott. It is certain that 
a trading post or trucking house was established on George 
Hill, in 1643, under the name of Symonds & King. This 
point was the meeting place of several Indian tribes, and 
marked the extreme western advance of the white men in 
Massachusetts. Nathaniel Norcross was to be the minister 
when the first settlement was made, but as there were delays, 
he returned to England. Stephen Day, who had set up the 
first printing press in English America, was thrown into 
prison for debt. Thus, one by one, the prominent members 
of the company dropped away, until Prescott was left alone. 
The strength of his individuality was equal to the 
occasion. He sold his house and lands in Watertown, and 
in 1645, with his family, started on his difficult journey 
through the forests, toward the Nashaway. There were a 
great many hindrances, but the greatest was the Sudbury 
River, and the bordering marsh, which was a half mile or 
more in width. Governor Winthrop, expressing the Puritan 



SETTLEMENT OF LANCASTER. 37 

opposition to the company, which arose from the doubtful 
political and religious views of some of its members, in his 
History of New England, says, as if he were recording a 
judgment of God: "Prescott, another favorer of the Pe- 
titioners, lost a horse and his loading in Sudbury River, and 
a week after, his wife and children being upon another horse, 
were hardly saved from drowning."* 

*June 12, 1645, Prescott and others sent a petition to the General 
Court : 

1645. The humble petito of the Company Intended to plat at 
Nashaway 12 June 1645. 

To the right Worp" Tho. Dudley Esq"^ Gou''nour and the rest of the 
Magistrates and deputyes now Assembled in the Generall Court at 
Boston. Yo'' petitioners, whose names are Vnderwritten Humbly 
Sheweth vnto yo"^ Worp'' y' wheras wee haue formerly received favour 
from this Court in haueing Liberty granted vs to plant att a place called 
Nashaway some 16 myles beyond Sudbery. Wee, the sayd petitioners 
doe find itt an vtter Impossibilitye to proceede forwards to plante at the 
place aboue sayd except wee haue a conuenient way made for the trans- 
portation of our Cattell and goods ouer Sudbery Riuer and Marsh. Now 
although Sudbery men haue begun to sett vpp a Bridge ouer the Riuer 
yett the worke is now decisted. And the bridge left altogether vnusefull, 
and the marsh now way mended, soe that wee caunot passe to the 
plantation abouesd without exposing our persons to perill and our cattell 
and goods to losse and spoyle : as yo' petitioners are able to make 
prooffe of by sad experience of what wee suffered there within these few 
dayes. Yo'' petitioners haue been & are much damnifyed by the badnesse 
of the way at this place : formany of vs haue beene dependant on this 
worke aboue these two yeares past, much tyme and meanes haue beene 
spent in discouering the plantation and prouiding for our setlinge there. 
And now the Lord by his prouidence hath gone on thus farre with the 
worke that diuers of us have covenanted to sitt downe together. And to 
Improue ourselues there this summer that wee may liue there the 
wynter next Insueing if God permitt. But vnlesse some speedy course 
bee taken yt wee haue a way made for the transplanting ourselues, 
cattell and goods we may perish there for want of Reliefe, not being 
able to prouide for our subsistance there this wynter. Vnless wee ex- 
pose ourselues and goods to the perill and spoyle as abouesayd. Yo' 
petitioners doe therefore humbly Beseech yo' Worships that as you haue 
beene pleased to Countenance our beginnings, soe you would please to 



38 JOHN PRESCOTT, THE PIONEER. 

Three men had been sent on before to prepare the way. 
These were Ball, Linton and Waters. Prescott, on arriving 
in June, 1645, chose for his home part of the land now 
occupied by the public buildings of Lancaster. He did 
not stay in this location long, but moved to the south- 
east side of George Hill, where, some time before, the 
trucking house of Symonds & King had been situated, 
and here he made his home.* This lot became the center, 

order that a conuenient way bee made at the place aforsd for trans- 
portinge our persones cattell & goods, that the worke of God there be- 
gun may further proceede and wee have Incouragement to carry on the 
worke else our tyme, meanes and labour hitherto expended will be lost. 
But if yo'' worp'' please to further our proceedings herein yo"^ petitioners 
shall euer pray &c. 

Nathaniel Norcrosse 
John Prescot 
Stephen Daye 
Harman Garrett 
Thomas Scidmore 
John Hill 
ISAACK Waker 
John Cowdall 
Joseph Jenkes 
This petition was granted, and a way made "passable for a loaden 
horse." 

*The following is a copy of his deed : 

A COPPIE of a deed from JOHN COWDALL. 

Bee it Knowne by these presents that I John Cowdall of Boston, for 
good & valluable consideration, by mee in hand receiued, haue giuen, 
granted, bargained & sold and by these presents do giue grant, bargain, 
& sell vnto John Prescott late of Watertown my house at Nashaway, 
and twenty acres of land therevnto belonging and adjoyneing, bounded 
with John Prescotts owne lott on the east, Steeven Day on the North, 
and George Adams south, as also twelue acres of wett meadow belong- 
ing to it, and fifty acres of Intervale bounded with Penycooke riuer west, 
and still riuer east, vpon which parcell of land Richard Linton, and 
Lawrance Waters haue planted corne, together with all appurtenances, 
conueniences and priueledges, comunes, pastures, mindalls &c belong- 
ing & apperteyneing to the said lands to haue and to hold the said 



SETTLEMENT OF LANCASTER. 39 

from which the other lots had "their boundings and 
descriptions." It is now known as Maplehurst. The most 
valuable part of his farm, however, like that of all the 
original settlers, was on the rich intervale along the river, 
which needed no clearing, but in a state of nature furnished 
abundant grass for the cattle. Here, Prescott lived for 
some years as a farmer and blacksmith, forging, perhaps, 
the iron for the first ploughshares that turned up the 
primeval soil, and the first rude nails that were used in the 
log houses. This man partook of the nature of the material 
in which he worked. His fellow settlers, who were at first 
very few in number, leaned upon his rugged strength, and 
were held to their task by his stubborn tenacity. 

In the records of the General Court, we find the follow- 
ing entry, dated 1652: " Consideringe that there is already 
at Nashaway about 9 familyes, & that seueral, both freeman 
& others mtend to goe & settle there, some whereof are 
named in theire petition, this Court doth hereby giue & 
graunt them libertyes of a townshipp, &, at the request of 
the inhabitants, doe order it to be called Prescott." But a 
change was made in the name, during the following year, 
against the wish of the settlers, probably, because "It 
smacked too much of man worship." Soon after, the name 
of Lancaster was given to the town, in remembrance, per- 
haps, of the English county in which Prescott was born. 
The act of incorporation was dated May 18, 1653, and the 
town was rated with Middlesex County. 

Thus Lancaster, the mother town of Harvard, Bolton, 
Leominster, Sterling, Berlin, Boylston and Clinton, was 
founded. Joseph VVillard, in his address in commemoration 
of the two hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of 
the town, says : "One only of the associates, John Prescott, 

house & Lands with all other the appurtenances & priueledges to him 
and his heyres for euer, witness my hand & seale this 5"' of the 8'"". 1647. 

John Cowdall 



40 JOHN PRESCOTT, THE PIONEER. 

the stalwart blacksmith, was faithful among the faithless. 
He turned not back, but vigorously pursued the interests of 
the plantation, till his exertions were crowned with success." 

Although Prescott was the leading man in Lancaster, 
and held the most important offices, yet he was not a free- 
man, and therefore he could not vote, and was deprived of 
many privileges which the others enjoyed. It was necessary 
in order to become a freeman, that he should join himself 
with the church, and this he did not wish to do. Moreover, 
he had so strong an individuality, that he did not depend 
entirely upon the society of others for his happiness. From 
these, or other reasons, he was perfectly willing to live apart 
from his neighbors, although no one else was so earnest as 
he in serving them. 

A corn mill was the great need of the settlement, for all 
the corn had to be carried to Watertown, for grinding, or 
else ground by hand, or parched and brayed or hulled. We 
can imagine Prescott going forth and searching in every 
direction for the best site for such a mill. The superior 
advantage of the southern section of the town could not 
long remain hidden from his keen practical observation, nor 
could it have been long before he saw that the power, more 
recently used by the Counterpane Mill, on Water Street, was 
just adapted to his purpose. There, a little farther down 
the stream than the mill of today, he built his rude structure 
of logs. The town gave him a liberal grant of land and 
certain immunities, in return for his public service.* This 

*The following contract was made in regard to his corn-mill, 
according to the Middlesex County Registry : 

" Know all men by these presents that I John Prescott blacksmith, 
hath Covenanted and bargained with Jno. ffounell of Charlestowne for 
the building of a Corne mill, within the said Towne of Lanchaster. This 
witnesseth that wee the Inhabitants of Lanchaster for his encouragement 
in so good a worke for the behoofe of our Towne, vpon condition that 
the said intended worke by him or his assignes be finished, do freely and 



CORN MILL. 41 

was the first grist mill within the present limits of Worcester 
County. 

Prescott's millstone is said to have come from England, 
but the nature of the rock is similar to that of a formatron 
found in the northeastern part of this state. When the first 
kernel of corn passed over its surface, on the twenty-third 

fully giue grant, enfeoffe, & confirme vnto the said John Prescott, thirty 
acres of intervale Land lying on the north riuer, lying north west of 
Henry Kerly and ten acres of Land adjoyneing to the mill : and forty 
acres of Land on the South east of the mill brooke, lying between the 
mill brooke and Nashaway Riuer in such place as the said John Prescott 
shall choose with all the priuiledges and appurtenances thereto apper- 
teyneing. To haue and to hold the said land and eurie parcell thereof to 
the said JoRn Prescott his heyeres and assignes for euer, to his and their 
only propper vse and behoofe. Also wee do couenant & promise to lend 
the said John Prescott fiue pound, in current money one yeare for the 
buying of Irons for the mill. And also wee do couenant and grant to 
and with the said John Prescott his heyres and assignes that the said 
mill, with all the aboue named Land thereto apperteyneing shall be 
freed from all cofiion charges for seauen yeares next ensueing, after the 
first finishing and setting the said mill to worke. In witness whereof 
wee haue herevnto put our hands this 20"' day of the 9'"" In the yeare of 
our Lord God one thousand six hundred fifty and three. 
Subscribed names 
WiLLM. Kerly Senr. Lawrence Waters, Thomas James, 
Jno Prescott, Edmund Parker, Jno Lewis, 

Jno White, Richard Linton, James Atherton, 

Ralph Houghton, Richard Smith, Jacob ffarrer. 

WiLLM. Kerly Junr." 

The following entry shows the date of completion : 
" Memorandum, that Jno Prescott finished his mill, & began to grind 
corne the 23"' day of the 3"'", 1654. 

At a meeting of the Comissioners for the generall Court, the 9"" of 
September 1657 at Jno. Prescott's house, the Towne consented that the 
imunityes of John Prescott prouided for in the covenant should continue 
and remayne to him the said Jno Prescott his heyres and assignes vntill 
the 23 of May in the yeare of our Lord sixteen hundred sixty & two, 1662. 

Simon Willard 
Edw. Johnson 
Thomas Danforth " 



42 JOHN PRESCOTT, THE PIONEER. 

day of March, 1654, the industrial history of Clinton began. 
Portions of this millstone still exist in various historical 
museums, and in the hands of some of our own relic-loving 
citizens. 

Prescott, not long content, was soon planning for a saw- 
mill.* He completed this early in 1659. February 17th of 

*prescott's saw-mill contract. 

Know all men by these presents that forasmuch as the Inhabitants 
of Lanchaster, or the most part of them being gathered together on a 
trayneing day, the 15'^ of the g"' mo. 1658, a motion was made by Jno. 
Prescott blackesmith of the same towne, about the setting vp of a saw 
mill for the good of the Towne, and y' he the said Jno. Prescott, would 
by the help of God set vp the saw mill, and to supply the said Inhabi- 
tants with boords, and other sawne worke, as is afforded at other saw 
mills in the countrey. In case the towne would giue, grant, & confirme 
vnto the said Jno. Prescott, a certeine tract of Land, lying Eastward of 
his water mill, be it more or less, bounded by the riuer east the mill west 
the stake of the mill land and the east end of a ledge of Iron Stone Rocks 
southards, and forty acres of his owne land north, the said land to be to 
him his heyres and assignes for euer, and all the said Land and eurie 
part thereof to be rate free vntill it be improued, or any p' of it, and that 
his saws, & saw mill should be free from any rates by the Towne, there- 
fore know y'' that the ptyes abouesaid did mutually agree and consent 
each with other concerning the aforementioned propositions as foUoweth. 

The towne on their part did giue, grant, & confirme, vnto the said 
John Prescott, his heyres and assignes for euer, all the aforementioned 
tract of land butted & bounded as aforesaid, to be to him and his heyres 
and assignes for euer, with all the priuiledges and appurtenances there- 
on, and therevnto belonging to be to his and their owne propper vse and 
behoofe as aforesaid, and the said land and eune part of it to be free 
from all rates vntill it or any pt. of it be improued, and also his saw, 
sawes, and saw mill to be free from all town rates, or ministers rates, 
prouided the aforementioned worke be finished & completed as aboue- 
said for the good of the towne, in some convenient time after this pres- 
ent contract covenant and agreem'. 

And the said John Prescott did and doth by these psents bynd himself 
his heyres and assignes to set vp a saw mill as aforesaid within the 
bounds of the aforesaid Towne, and to supply the Towne with boords, 
and other sawn worke as aforesaid, and truly and faithfully to performe, 
fullfill, & accomplish, all the afore mentioned pmisses for the good of 
the Towne as aforesaid 



SAW-MILL. 



43 



this year, "The Company granted him to fell pines on the 
Com'ons to supply his saw-mill." Although it is probable, 
that this mill was, at a later date, near his corn-mill and used 
the same water-power, it was, evidently, at first, further up 
the brook near the place where the Bigelow Carpet Com- 
pany's dam now is. Some authorities say that he had a 
bloomery at the latter place in connection with his saw-mill. 
Slag from iron works has been found in this locality, al- 
though it is, probably, of more recent origin. 

The log houses of the first settlers gradually gave place 
to those built of sawn lumber, and Prescott's mills became a 
central point for all the country round. All persons living 
nearer to these than those of Sudbury came here to have 
their corn ground and to buy lumber. Rude roads were con- 
structed connecting the mills with Lancaster and the main 
highways of travel. What is now North Main Street is 
spoken of as "fiue rods wide from the Cuntrie highway [in 
South Lancaster] to the mill." In deeds, it is called a 
"private" way. 

The contracts in regard to these mills have been given in 
full on account of their supreme importance. Through 
them, Prescott became the first direct individual factor in 
Clinton history. In him, nature found that practical sagacity, 

Therefore the Selectmen conceiuing this saw mill to be of great vse 
to the Towne, and the aftergood of the place, Haue and do hereby act 
to rattifie and confirme all the the aforemencconed acts, covenants, gifts, 
grants, & ifnunityes, in respect of rates, and what euer is aforementioned, 
on their owne pt, nnd in behalfe of the Towne, and to the true perform- 
ance thereof both partyes haue and do bynd themselues by subscribing 
their hands, this 25"' day of february one thousand six hundred and fifty 
nine . John Prescott 

The work aboue mencconed was finished according to this couenant 
as witnesseth. Ralph Houghton 

Signed & Deliv''' In presence of Thomas Wilder 

Thomas Sawyer 
Ralph Houghton. 



44 JOHN PRESCOTT, THE PIONEER. 

which knew how to use her gifts to the best advantage. In 
every direction, he had that shrewd common sense, which 
unerringly adapts means to ends. From that time to this, 
the community, of which Prescott was the founder, has de- 
veloped along the same line on which he started it, and has 
always had the center of its industrial life in its mills. 

Prescott built his new house a little way from the site 
chosen for his corn mill, southeast of the point where High 
and Water streets now intersect. It was a few rods east of 
the stone watering-trough now on High Street near this 
corner. There are those living, who can remember the little 
hollow which showed where Prescott's cellar-hole had been. 
The spring from which he drew his water was, until recently, 
used as a well. The first house, known as Prescott's garri- 
son, was probably built of logs before the saw-mill was 
started. If it was like the other log houses of that day, the 
windows were small, with diamond panes either of glass or 
oiled paper, and with close shutters. It may be, the roof 
was thatched. The chimney was made of stone, or, perhaps, 
of brick, as bricks began to be made in Lancaster about this 
time. It is likely that there were flankers on the corners, 
for use as watch towers when Indian attacks were feared. 
It must have been of considerable size, as we know it con- 
tained two tenements, one of which was occupied by a mar- 
ried son. 

Here for more than a score of years, Prescott lived with 
his family. He was the father of eight children, all of 
whom, with the exception of Martha, lived to a good old 
age. 

Mary, born in 163c, at Sowerby, married Thomas Sawyer 
in 1648, and had eleven children, from whom are descended 
the Sawyers, who have been so prominent in Clinton history. 
This Thomas Sawyer died September 12, 1706, aged about 
ninety years. 

Martha, born in 1632, at Sowerby, married John Rugg in 



PRESCOTT'S HOME. 



45 



1655. They had no children, who survived. She died in 
1656. 

John, born in 1635, ^^ Sowerby, and baptized at Halifax 
Parish, April 1st, married Sarah Hayward at Lancaster No- 
vember 1 1, 1668. He worked with his father as a farmer and 
blacksmith, and inherited his father's property in the mills. 
They had five children. 

Sarah, born in 1637, at Sowerby, married Richard 
Wheeler, at Lancaster, August 2, 1658, and had eight or more 
children by him. He was killed at the massacre in 1676. 
The widow afterward married Joseph Rice of Marlborough, 
the ancestor of the Rices of Clinton. 

Hannah, born, probably, at Barbadoes, in 1639, bore eight 
children as the second wife of John Rugg, whom she married 
May 4, 1660. Her husband died in January, 1697, ^"*^ she 
was killed by the Indians, September ii, 1697. 

Lydia, born at VVatertown, August 15, 1641, became the 
wife of Jonas Fairbanks of Lancaster, May 28, 1658, and 
had seven children. He and his son Joshua were killed in 
1676, by the Indians. She afterwards married Elias Barron. 

Jonathan, born, probably, at Lancaster, in 1647, became a 
blacksmith, farmer and doctor. He married four times, and 
is recorded to have had seven children. After the massacre, 
he lived in Concord and became a prominent man there. 
For nine years, he represented his district at the General 
Court. He died December 5, 1721. 

Jonas, born in Lancaster in 1648, became a blacksmith 
like his father. There is a tradition connected with his mar- 
riage that may be worth repeating. There was a girl living 
in Sudbury named Mary Loker. She had many suitors. 
Her wealthy parents had planned an aristocratic alliance for 
her. When they heard that a young blacksmith was paying 
attention to their idol and that his advances had met with 
favor, they forbade him to come to the house, and even 
barred the window of Mary's room so that no communica- 
tion could be carried on in that way. Being still outwitted, 



46 JOHN PRESCOTT, THE PIONEER. 

they determined to take further measures, and, all unknow- 
ingly, pursued a course tending to strengthen the lovers' 
purpose. They sent Mary away to live in seclusion. Jonas, 
after some time, found her by accident when he was upon a 
hunting expedition. In December, 1672, they were married, 
against the will of her parents, who refused her a dowry. 
The father endowed his son with the five hundred and twenty 
acres of land, which he had received for building the first 
corn-mill at Groton, and soon made him master in the new 
mill there. From Jonas and Mary Prescott sprung William 
Prescott, the hero of Bunker Hill, and William H. Prescott, 
the historiam. Jonas Prescott had twelve children. He died 
December 21, 1723. 

It is probable that most of Prescott's children lived with 
him, at first, in the garrison house. Even after marr}'ing, John 
continued to live here, and he helped him carry on the mill. 

Prescott's garrison and his mills were the only buildings 
in the territory which is now Clinton, his family the only in- 
habitants, unless, possibly, he may at times have procured 
some help besides that of his sons and grandsons. All 
around him, except in the intervale along the river, was a vast 
forest, which had been cleared only for a small space about his 
buildings. Here, Prescott and his family lived in their rude log 
house, enjoying themselves as much in their rough fashion, 
as if they had every convenience of modern life. We can 
imagine them seated about the great open fire-place in the 
evening, telling each other of what had occurred during the 
day. The father would talk about what had happened in the 
mills, who had been there with logs to saw or corn to grind, 
and what news they brought of the outside world. It is 
possible that some of the children may have attended the 
dame school at Lancaster, and had stories to relate of the 
doings there; but it is more probable that they would talk 
of some deer or bear, or smaller game they had seen during 
the day, and of their plans for its future capture, Me^n- 



PRESCOTT'S ESTATE. 



47 



while, the women folks may have worked on the homespun 
clothing, and gossiped about the last wedding or funeral they 
had attended, or the last visit they had made. Perhaps, they 
sometimes expressed their fear of Indian treachery. A 
rough and lonely life it must have been. Sunday was the 
great day with them. Then they managed to go to meeting, 
trudging over the hard road, then known as the Mill Path, now 
North Main Street, or riding horseback, with the women 
folks mounted on pillions behind the men. They would re- 
main all day at the meeting, and during the intermission be- 
tween the long sermon in the morning, and that of the after- 
noon, how much they must have found to talk about. In 
1669, Prescott became a freeman, although he ma)- not have 
changed his religious views as the laws were changed so that 
any man owning an estate and known to be upright and 
honest, could be admitted to all the rights of citizenship, 
even though he was not a member of the church. Prescott's 
differences with the church were, probably, on matters of 
government rather than on theological questions. He served 
on many committees of the parish, and was the intimate 
friend and trusted adviser of Mr. Rowlandson, the pastor. 

In 1672, Prescott must have owned in all twelve hundred 
acres of land. In the main settlement, he still held possess- 
sion of his original allotments and later grants and purchases. 
This amounted to one hundred acres and stretched from 
George Hill to the meeting of the rivers, covering much of 
the district now known as South Lancaster. He had three 
hundred acres in what is now Clinton, including most of the 
tract north and northeast of Burditt Hill, between the pres- 
ent location of the Boston & Maine Railroad and the river.* 



* upland to his Come Mill. And his vpland belonging to his mill ten 
acres of which takes its beginning at a little round hill, fourty rod aboue 
the mill and so runes on both sides the brooke to the riuer, bounded 
south by some land giuen him for the building a saw mill, and north- 



48 JOHN PRESCOTT, THE PIONEER. 

For services done in surveying, he received land near 
Washacum.f He afterwards added to this by purchase from 
the Indian, James Wiser, alias Quannapohit.J He thus had 

erly by a peice of pine Land that is comon, butting east by the riuer, and 
west by the little round hill by the mill where hi? stake stands, and forty 
acres part whereof lying on the south side of that ten acres, and lying in 
a corner, and compassed about south and east by the riuer, and bounded 
west by a pine plain giuen him for the building of a saw mill, and a peice 
of intervale compassed about by a ledge of Iron Stone Rockes on the 
north and north west sides and bounded south by Nashaway riuer, all 
which parcells of Land ly for fifty acres be they more or less W^'' was 
giuen him for encouragement to build a corne mill as appeared by a 
covenant copied out & truly recorded 3*^ 10'"". 165Q by me 

Ralph Houghton. 

grant to goodrnan Prescott. The towne gaue Libertie to goodman 
Prescott to take up a slipe of medow ground Runing through the most 
part of a great pine plaine that Lyeth sutherly of his Corne mille, which 
he is to haue in Leiw of two acres of medow, formerly granted him in a 
corner of the great pond medow which was granted vpon the account 
of John Cowdall and he is to take two acres Lesse their. 

1 1660. In obedience to the grant of the honoured generall Court held 
at boston the 18'^ of October 1659, layed out to John Prescott of Lancas- 
ter neare adjoyning to the west line of Lancaster bounds his farm con- 
tayninge one hundred acres joyning to a great pond [Washacum] on the 
northeast and allso joyning to abrooke (running out of the sayd pond) on 
the south east with four acres of medow joyning to the sayd pond and 
six acres of medow being vpon the sayd brooke — this being exactly 
measured by me vnderwritten the 15 of January 1660 

Thomas Noyes. 

[Massachusetts Archives, xlv. 81.] 

J JAMES WISER'S deed OF WASHACUM LANDS 

Know all men by these p''sents that I James Wiser of Washakim in 
the countie of midlesex, Indian, in New England, for good considera- 
tione and mouinge therevnto, but especially for & in consideratione of 
fouer pounds teen shillings allredy reC^ by me haue giuen grantted bar- 
gined sold aUnated & confirmed & do by these psents giue grant bargine 
sell alinate & confirme vnto John Prescott of Lancaster some nintie 
accers of vnimproued land be it more or lesse lyinge vpon a plaine & 
twentie accers be it more or lesse beinge a corne feilld lyinge vpon a hill 



PRESCOTT'S ESTATE. 



49 



in all near the lakes about three hundred acres, including 

the present camp ground. In addition to these lots there 

were the five hundred and twenty acres in Groton which he 
gave a little later to his son Jonas. 

weastward of this plaine bounded by a pond a littill remote easterly 
frome the plaine: Washakim fort beinge about fiefteene rods frome the 
neerest pt of this plaine & the hill whear on the Indian fielld is, weast- 
erly of this plaine, only Adagunapeke & his Aunt & his sister reserue 
one accer a yere, the hill beinge called by the name of moantuhcake, 
this land joynes to the farme that the Country gaue John Prescott which 
allso is bounded by a hill to the south runinge downe to his meadow be- 
longinge to his farme & the countryes land ellsewhear aboutt it, the 
sayde bargined Pmisses withall and singular ther puiledges & aperta- 
nanses to be to the sayde John Prescott & his heyers for euer to haue & 
to hold for his or their pposes & Uesies without any lawful! lett molesta- 
tione or disturbance from by or vnder me or any my heyers executors or 
asignes or any other pson or psons what soeuer fermely bindinge my sellfe 
my heyers executors & asignes heervnto, & we whose names arre vnder 
written, Pummannommon & Pompoweagon do afirme and testifie that 
the aforesayde James Wiser hath full power & right to alinate thes lands 
& in witnesse heerto I y*^ aforesayde James Wiser do putt to my hand 
and sealle. 

The 3 acC** of brok vpland expressed heerin that is reserued lyes at 
the northerly end of the feilld. datted this 22'' of the first mo. 1669/70 

the marke ^ James Wiser 
Read signed & sealled & deliuered in the presence of 

y<= marke of (M) Marv Willard 

Simon Willard Jr. 

the marke of C pummannommon 

the marke of C; pompoweagon 

[From Shattuck Manuscripts in possession of the New England Historic Genealogi- 
cal Society.] 

To the honourable the Govr the Deputy Govr inagts &^ Dcputyes 
assembled in the gen^all Court. 

The petition of Jno Prescott of Lanchaster In most humble wise shew- 
eth. Whereas y« Petitio' hath purchased an Indian right to a small par- 
cell of Land, occasioned & circumstanced for quantity & quality accord- 
ing to the deed of sale herevnto annexed and a pt thereof not being 
legally setled vpon me vnlesse I may obteyne the favo' of this Court for 
5 



50 JOHN PRESCOTT, THE PIONEER. 

His property and his family relations may best be under- 
stood by an examination of a will made by him in 1673, be- 
fore the removal of his son, Jonathan, to Concord, and while 
his wife was yet living. The mark with which it is signed is 
an evidence of his weakness, as he usually signed his name. 
His sickness at the time is elsewhere mentioned in the 
records to account for his failure to appear as a witness. 

This will throws many side lights upon the character of 
him by whom it was made. Here is breadth of business 
ability, mingled with utmost carefulness in details ; a stern- 

the Confirmation thereof, These are humbly to request the Courts favo'' 
for that end, the Lord haueing dealt graciously with mee in giueing mee 
many children I account it my duty to endeauo'' their prouission & set- 
ling and do hope that this may be of some vse in y' kind, 1 know not any 
claime made to the said land by any towne, or any legall right y' any 
other person haue therein, and therefore are free for me to occupy & 
subdue as any other, may I obteyne the Courts approbation. 1 shall not 
vse farther motiues, my condition in other respecks & w' my trouble & 
expenses haue been according to my poor ability in my place being 
not altogether vnknown to some of y^ Court. 

That y^ Lords p'"sence may be with & his blessing accompany all yo'' 
psons, counsells, & endeauo''^ for his honor & y® weale of his poor peo- 
ple is y^ pray"' of 

Yo'' suppliant. John Prescott Sen"' 

17:3: 1672 read and referred to y^ Committee, 

In Refference to this Petition the Comittee being well Informed 
that the Pef is an ancient Planter & hath bin a vsefull helpfull and pub- 
lique spirited man doinge many good offices ffor the Country Relatinge 
to the Road to Conecticott, marking trees, directinge of Passengers &c 
and that the Land Petitioned for beinge but about 107 Acres & Lyinge 
not very Convenient for any other Plantation, and only accomodable for 
the Pef we Judge it reasonable to confirme the Indian Grant to him & 
his heyres if y^ honor'* Court see meete. 

The Deputyes approue of the returne of Edward Tyng 

the Comittee in answer to this pet ;o'' Hon- George Corwin 

o'"* magis*^ consenting hereto. Humphrey Davie 

Wm Torrey Cleric 

29 May : 72. Consented to by y'^ magists 

Edw Rawson Secret. 



PRESCOTT'S ESTATE. 



51 



ness, that can chide an erring grandchild even in the moment 
of forgiveness, and gleams of tenderness playing about an 
unyielding personality which ruled as with a rod of iron.* 

*J0HN PRESCOTT'S WILL. 

Theis presents witneseth that John Prescott of Lancaster in the 
Countie of Midlesex in New England Blaksmith being vnder the 
sencible decayes of nature and infirmities of old age and at present 
vnder a great deale of anguish and paine but of a good and sound 
memorie at the writing hereof being moved vpon considerations afore- 
said togather with advis of Christian friends to set his house in order in 
Reference to the dispose of those outward good things the lord in 
mercie hath betrusted him with, theirfore the said John Prescott doth 
hereby declare his last will and testament to be as followeth, first and 
cheifly Comiting and Comending his soul to almightie god that gaue it 
him and his bodie to the comon burying place here in Lancaster, and 
after his bodie being orderly and decently buryed and the charge theirof 
defrayed togather with all due debts discharged, the Rest of his Lands 
and estate to be disposed of as followeth : first m Reference to the 
Comfortable. being of his louing wife during the time of her naturall 
Life, it is his will that his said wife haue that end of the house where he 
and shee now dwelleth togather with halfe the pasture and halfe the 
fruit of the aple trees and all the goods in the house, togather with two 
cowes which shee shall Chuse and medow sufisiant for wintering of 
them, out of the medowes where she shall Chuse, the said winter 
pvision for the two cowes to be equaly and seasonably pvided by his two 
sons John and Jonathan. And what this may fall short in Reference to 
convenient food and cloathing and other nesesaries for her comfort in 
sickness and in health, to be equaly pvided by the aforesaid John and 
Jonathan out of the estate. And at the death of his aforesaid louing 
wife it is his will that the said cowes and household goods be equaly 
deuided betwene his two sons aforesaid, and the other part of the 
dwelling house, out housing, pasture and orchard togather with the tenn 
acres of house lott lying on Georges hill which was purchased of daniell 
gains to be equaly diuided betwene the said John and Jonathan and 
alsoe that part of the house and outhousing what is Convenient for the 
two Cowes and their winter pvision pasture and orchard willed to his 
louing wife during her life, at her death to be equaly deuided alsoe be- 
twene the said John and Jonathan. And furthermore it is his will that 
John Prescott his eldest son haue the Intervaile land at John's Jumpe, 
the lower Mille and the land belonging to it and halfe the saw mille and 
halfe the land belonging to it and all the house and barne theire erected, 



52 JOHN PRESCOTT, THE PIONEER. 

Prescott recovered from the illness, which led to the mak- 
ing of his will, and was again able to take control of his af- 
fairs. Perhaps, it would have been well for him if he could 
have passed away at this time for darker days were to come. 

We shall have an entirely inadequate idea of his charac- 

and alsoe the house and farme at Washacomb pond, and all the land 
their purchased from the indians and halfe the medows in all deuisions 
in the towne acept sum litle part at bar hill wh. is after willed to James 
Sawyer and one halfe of the Comon Right in the towne, and in Refer- 
ence to second deuision land, that part of it which lyeth at danforths 
farme both vpland and interuaile is willed to Jonathan and sixtie acres 
of that part at Washacom litle pond to James Sawyer and halfe of some 
brushie land Capable of being made medow at the side of the great 
pine plain to be within the said James Sawyers sixtie acres and all the 
Rest of the second deuision land both vpland and Interuaile to be 
equaly deuided betwene John Prescott and Jonathan aformentioned. 
And Jonathan Prescott his second son to haue the Ryefeild and all the 
interuaile lott at Nashaway Riuer that part which he hath in posesion 
and the other part joyneing to the highway and alsoe his part of second 
deuision land aformentioned and alsoe one halfe of all the medowes in 
all deuisions in the towne not willed to John Prescott and James Sawyer 
aforementioned, and alsoe the other halfe of the saw mille and land be- 
longing to it, and it is to be vnderstood that all timber on the land be- 
longing to both Corne Mille and Saw Mille be Comon to the vse of the 
Saw Mille. And in Reference to his third son Jonas Prescott it is 
herby declared that he hath Received a full childs portion at none- 
coicus in a Corne mille and Land and other goods. And James Sawyer 
his grandchild and Servant it is his will that he haue the sixtie acres of 
vpland aformentioned and the two peices of medow at bare hill one 
being part of his second deuision the upermost peic on the brook and 
the other being part of his third deuision lying vpon Nashaway Riuer 
purchased of goodman Allin. Prouided the said James Sawyer carie it 
beter than he did to his said granfather in his time and carie so as be- 
coms an aprentic & vntil he be one and twentie years of age vnto 
the executors of this will namly John Prescott and Jonathan Prescott 
who are alsoe herby engaged to pforme vnto the said James what was 
pmised by his said granfather, which was to endeauor to learne him 
the art and trade of a blaksmith. And in Case the said James doe not 
pforme on his part as is afor expresed to the satisfaction of the overseers 
of this will, or otherwise. If he doe not acept of the land afor- 
mentioned, then the said land and medow to be equaly diuided betwene 



PRESCOTT'S ESTATE. 53 

ter, unless we realize that he was not only for many years 
the leading man in Lancaster, but also, that he was well 
known throughout the colony as a man of great enterprise 
and energy. We have seen how he was a pioneer in laying 

the aforsaid John and Jonathan. And in Reference to his three 
daughters, namly Marie, Sara and Lydia they to haue and Receive 
eurie of them fiue pounds to be paid to them by the executors to eurie 
of them fiftie shiUings by the yeare two years after the death of theire 
father to be paid out of the mouables and Martha Ruge his granchild 
to haue a cow at the choic of her granmother. And it is the express 
will and charge of the testator to his wife and all his Children that they 
labor and endeauor to preserue loue and unitie among themselves and 
the vpholding of Church and Comonwealth. And to the end that this 
his last will and testament may be truly pformed in all the parts of it, 
the said testator hath and herby doth constitut and apoynt his two sons 
namly John Prescott and Jonathan Prescott Joynt executors of this his 
last will. And for the preuention of after trouble among those that 
suruiue about the dispose of the estate acording to this his will he hath 
hereby Chosen desired and apoynted the Reuerend Mr. Joseph Row- 
landson, deacon Sumner and Ralph Houghton overseers of this his will ; 
vnto whom all the parties concerned in this his will in all dificult Cases 
are to Repaire, and that nothing be done without their Consent and 
aprobation. And furthermore in Reference to the mouables it is his will 
that his son John have his anvill and after the debts and legacies afor- 
mentioned be truly paid and truly discharged by the executors and the 
speciall trust pformed vnto my wife during her life and at her death, in 
Respect of, sicknes funerall expences, the Remainder of the mouables 
to be equaly deuided betwene my two sons John and Jonathan afor- 
mentioned. And for a further and fuller declaration and confirmation 
of this will to be the last will and testament of the afornamed John 
Prescott he hath herevnto put his hand and seale this 8 of 2 month one 
thousand six hundred seaventie three. John Prescott. 

his John mark 

Sealed signed owned to be the Last will and testament of the 
testator afornamed In the presence of Joseph Rowlandson 

Roger Sumner 
Ralph Houghton 

April 4 : 82. 

Roger Sumner ) 

, Ralph Houghton \ Appearing in Court made oath to the above 
s** will. Jonathan Remington, Cleric. 



54 JOHN PRESCOTT, THE PIONEER. 

out a new road " to Connecticut by Nashaway, which avoided 
much of the hilly way." In 1657, he was appointed one of 
a committee to build bridges at "Billirriky & Misticke." In 
1658, he helped to lay out the great Davenport purchase, 
where West Boylston Centre now stands. The contract for 
building the first corn-mill in Groton, which we have already 
noted, was made in 1667. This mill was within the present 
limits of Harvard. His family had grown up about him, 
and had become worthy members of society. He might 
well expect an old age crowned with honor and filled with 
happiness. 

According to tradition, Prescott had from the first been 
on friendly terms with the Indians, and his purchase of lands 
at Washacum gives assurance that he was especially trusted 
by them. His fearless bearing and his stalwart frame won 
for him their respect. Whenever any trouble arose with 
them, he would sally out alone, armed with his long gun and 
cl'ad in the coat of mail and helmet which he is said to have 
brought with him from England, and the Indians would flee 
in fear. At one time, a horse having been stolen from him, 
he started out alone, and, meeting the marauders was struck 
on the head by the chief with a tomahawk. The blow had no 
effect on account of his helmet. The Indian in his astonish- 
ment stopped his attack and asked to try on this magic hat, 
and was granted the privilege on condition that he would 
give Prescott a chance of striking him. He consented, and 
as the helmet was a tight fit and was not properly put on, 
the blow brought it down, leaving little skin on his head and 
hardly sparing his ears. Prescott was permitted to go home 
in safety, with his horse, which was returned to him. At 
another time, according to legend, being attacked suddenly 
when unprepared and alone with his wife, he set her to load- 
ing| his muskets, while he discharged them, all the time 
giving orders in a loud tone, as if he had a large force at hand. 
The Indians soon fled, carrying with them their dead and 
wounded. 



PRESCOTT AND THE INDIANS. 55 

We have seen how Sholan or Showanon, chief of the 
Nashaways, had sold land to the Lancaster pioneers. John 
Eliot said of him in 1648: "Showanon, the great sachym of 
Nashaway doth embrace the Gospel and pray unto God." 
He died in 1654. Matthew, his Christian successor, was no 
less friendly to the English. But 'ere his death, a new spirit 
had taken possession of the Indians. They began to realize 
that in seeking the protection of a stronger race they had 
lost their savage freedom. Neither had they gained the pro- 
tection they had sought, for the colonists stood coolly aloof, 
while they fell victims to the continued raids of the Mohawks. 
The forces of nature, working according to the law of the 
survival of the fittest, had proved stronger than Christian 
charity. The vices of the white men were more attractive to 
the children of the forest than their virtues. Through the 
greed of the trader, the rum demon made the Indians mad 
and then the courts of the Puritans severely punished those 
who had been debased. The young braves were stirred by 
the eloquence of Philip, chief of the Wampanoags. He 
made them recognize the wrongs they had suffered ; he 
showed them that their doom was inevitable, if they con- 
tinued to submit ; he called them to revenge and awakened 
their greed for the spoils which seemed to be within their 
grasp. 

Shoshanim, alias Sagamore Sam, the representative of 
this new party, was chosen sachem of the Nashaways as a 
successor to Matthew. Quannapohit or Quanapaug and his 
fellow Christians lost their influence in the councils of the 
tribe. The shrewd Philip ordered the death of Quannapohit, 
whom he considered a traitor to his race, but the fierce 
Monoco, or One-Eyed John, a chief of the Nashaways, faith- 
ful to his friend, protected him. "Next morning I went to 
One-Eyed John's wigwam. He said he was glad to see me ; 
I had been his friend for many years and had helped him 
kill the Mohaugs. He said if anybody hurt me they should 
die. I lay in the sagamore's wigwam." Thus wrote Quin- 



56 JOHN PRESCOTT, THE PIONEER. 

napohit in the very " Information " in which he betrayed his 
race. 

Shoshanim and Monoco with their followers made an 
alliance with Muttaump, the ruler of Quabaugs. The set- 
tlers did not heed the warnings of Quinnapohit, who had de- 
serted his race for his religion, and were totally unprepared 
for defence when, on the 9th of February, 1676, a horde of 
savage warriors were reported to be nearing the outskirts of 
the village. The main attack was directed against the cen- 
tral garrison. The story of the fierce onslaught and the 
heroic defence ; of the final victory of the Indians and the 
terrible massacre which followed ; of the burning of the 
homes and the later captivity of the women and children, 
have been handed down to us in the tragic narrative of Mrs. 
Rowlandson. This story belongs to the history of Lancas- 
ter rather than to that of Clinton. Sufifice it to say, that out 
of the fifty families then living in Lancaster fifty-five persons 
were either killed or carried into captivity. 

On the day of the great massacre, the Prescott garrison, 
with which we have especially to do, was subject to a minor 
attack, and here Ephraim Sawyer, Prescott's grandson, was 
killed. We can well imagine the anxiety with which the 
few defenders and the women and children who looked to 
them for safety must have listened to the sound of the dis- 
tant musketry, or watched the smoke rising from the homes 
of their kindred and friends. How long would it be before 
the main body of Indians would be upon them ? Fortunately, 
the Indians entertained a great fear of Captain Wadsworth 
of Marlborough, and retreated with their captives without 
waiting to complete their work. 

A few days later George Harrington, a soldier from 
Watertown, was killed at the Prescott garrison. Richard 
Wheeler and Jonas Fairbanks, sons-in-law, and Joshua Fair- 
bank, another grandson of Prescott, were killed at Wheeler's 
garrison. There is good authority that two graves were to 
be seen near the old mill site during the eighteenth century. 



PRESCOTT AND THE INDIANS. 



57 



They were called the Indians' graves. It is possible that 
Sawyer and Harrington were buried in these. 

The survivors gathered under the protection of the 
soldiers, who had come to their assistance, in two strong 
garrison houses, and from thence sent a petition to the 
General Court, which reveals the pitiableness of their condi- 
tion.* 



* To the Hone^'i Gournor and Counsell 

The humble petition of the poor destressed people of Lancaster, 
humbley sheweth, that sence the enemy mad such sad & dismall hauocke 
amongst our deare ffreinds & Bretheren, & we that are left who haue our 
Lines for a prey sadly sencable of God's Judgm'^ upon us, this with the 
destresse we are now in dus embolden us to present our humble Re- 
quests, to yo'' Honors, hoping our Condisions may be considered by you 
& our Requests find exeptance with you, our stat is very deplorable, in 
our Incapasity to subsist, as to Remoue away we can not, the enemy has 
so Incompased us, otherwise for want of help our catle being the most of 
them caried away by the barberouss heathen, & to stay disinabled for 
want of food, the Towns people are Gennilly gon who felt the Judgm' 
but light, & had theyr catle left them with theyr estats, but we many of 
us heare in this prison, haue not bread to last us on niongth & our other 
provision spent & gon, for the genrallyty, our Town is drawn into two 
Garisons wherin are by the Good favours of yo"' Hon''^ eighteen soulders, 
which we gladly mayntayn soe long as any thing lasts, and if yo'' Honors 
should call them of, we are seartaynly a bayt for the enemy if God do 
not wonderfully prevent, therefore we hop as God has mad you fathers 
ouer us so you will haue a fathers pitty to us & extend your care ouer us 
who are yo"" poor destressed subjects. We are sorowful to Leaue the 
place, but hoplesse to keep it unlesse mayntayned by the Cuntrey, it 
troubles our sperits to giue any Incuridgm' to the enemy, or leaue any 
thing for them to promot their wicked designe, yet better saue our Liues 
than lose Life & Estat both, we are in danger emenent, the enemy 
leying Aboue us, nay on both sids of us, as dus playingly Apear. our 
womens cris dus dayly Increase beand expresion which dus not only fill 
our ears but our hearts full of Greefe, which makes us humbly Request 
yo"^ Hon" to send a Gard of men & that if you please so comand we 
may haue Carts About fourteen will Remoue the whool eight of which 
has been presed long at Sudburry but nevr came for want of a small 
gard of men, the whooll that is, all that are in the on Garison, Kept in 



58 JOHN PRESCOTT, THE PIONEER. 

Indian hostilities continuing, the settlement at Lancaster 
was broken up, and thus Prescott, now over seventy years of 
age, having seen the prosperous community he had founded, 
laid in ruins, and having been forced to mourn for his 
daughters widowed and his grandsons slain, was driven away 
from his possessions to seek a new home among strangers. 
It is probable that his faithful wife became a victim to their 
troubles, as we have no further record of her among the 
living. 

It was three years, before another settlement was 
attempted in Lancaster, yet we can imagine that during all 
this time the old pioneer was thinking only of a return. At 

Major Willards house, which is all from yo"" Hon"''' most humble servants 

& suplyants. 

Lancasf March ii"' i6f| Jacob ffarrar 

John Houghton Sen'' 
John Moore 
John Whittcomb 
Job Whittcomb 
Jonathan Whittcomb 
John Houghton Jun"' 
Cyprian Steevens 
The other on Garison are in the like destresse & soe humbley 

desire yo'' like pitty & ffatherly car, haueing widows and many ffather- 

lesse chilldren. the Numb"" of Carts to Carey away this garison is twenty 

Carts. Yo'' Hon'''' Humble pettisioners. 

John Prescott Sen'' 
Tho. Sawyer Sen'' 
Tho. Sawyer Jun' 
Jonathan Prescott 
Tho Wilder 
John Wilder 
Sarah Wheeler wid 
Widow ffarbanks 
John Rigby 
Nathaniell Wilder 
John Roofer 
Widow Roofer 



LAST YEARS. 



59 



last a petition*, headed by him, was sent to the court, asking 
permission to resettle. It will be noted, that six of the nine 
signers of this petition belonged to John Prescott's famil}', 
as Rugg and Thomas Sawyer, Sr., were sons-in-law. When 
it was granted, among the first to return were the Prescotts, 
and soon new mills and a dwelling-house were built to re- 
place those destroyed by the Indians. John Prescott, Jr., 
had charge of them, and took care of his aged father, who 
lived to see the town restored in some measure to its former 
state. He died in December, i68i.t 

*i67g. To the honored County Co^^ sitting at Cambridge October 7. 1679 
Ye humble petition of those whose names are here vnderwritten y"^ 
Inhabitants of Lancaster before o"' remouall from thence by reason of y" 
late warres, in o'' owne & others behalfe, y** pprietors of y*^ said place as 
followeth. Whereas there was an order made the Last hono''ed generall 
Co'"t y* places deserted should not be againe Inhabited, till the people 
first make application vnto the Gouno'' & Council, or to the County Co''! 
wi"'in whose Jurisdiction they be, for a coinittee to order matters con- 
cerning y'' place, as in the said Law is expressed, wee yo' petitioners 
wi"' diuers others purposing (if y* Lord please) to returne to Lancaster 
from whence wee haue beene scattered, doe humbly request this Co't 
that they will be pleased to nominate & appoint an able & discreet Coin- 
ittee for that end, who may wi"* all conuenient speed attend the said 
Buisnes that soe wee may pceed to settle the place wi*'' comfort & en- 
couragement & yo"' petitioners shall pray for the Lords gracious psence 
W'' you in all yo"^ Administracons. 

John Prescot Senior 
John More 

Thomas Sawyer Sener 
John Rugg 
John Prescott Juner 
Jonath Prescott 
Thomas Wilder 
Thomas Sayer Juner 
JosiAH Whiet 

ti68i Dec 20, The Deposition of Tho: Wilder aged 37 years sworn, 
sayth that being with Jno Prescott Sen"" About six houers before he died 
he y'' sd Jno Prescott gaue to his eldest sonn Jno: Prescott his house lott 
with all belonging to y« same & y*' two mills, corn mill & saw mill with 



6o JOHN PRESCOTT, THE PIONEER. 

Two centuries later, in the old graveyard at Lancaster, 
could be seen a rough stone of slate, which to the un- 
observant appeared to be without inscription.-}- Yet sharp 
eyes could still trace the words which would soon be 
obliterated, "John Prescott, Desased." 

Here, in this almost forgotten grave, lie the mortal 
remains of the stalwart pioneer, who laid the foundations of 
Lancaster and Clinton. 

y* land belonging therto & three scor Acors of land nere South 
medow & fourty Acors of land nere Wonchesix & a pece of entervile 
called Johns Jump & Bridge medow on both sids y*^ Brook. Cyprian 
Steevens Testifieth to all y" truth Above writen. 
t This inscription has recently been recut. 



CHAPTER IV. 
THREE GENERATIONS OF PRESCOTTS. 

As the estate owned by John Prescott, the pioneer, 
within present Clinton limits, was held and enlarged by his 
descendants through two generations, there was no chance 
for any one else to gain a homestead in the district where 
the central portion of the town now stands. Hence the 
history of the district for nearly a century is little more than 
a memorial of the Prescott family. 

Since John Prescott, 2d, the eldest son of the pioneer, 
had cared for his father in his old age, and had rebuilt his 
mills and dwelling houses for him after the massacre, it was 
natural that he should inherit the homestead. In January, 
1686, he received by deed from his brother, Jonathan, all of 
the part of the saw-mill lands then in his possession. He 
was forty-six years old at the time of his father's death. 
He had been married thirteen years before, to Sarah Hay- 
ward, of Lancaster, and his children were already growing 
up about him. They were: Mary, born February 2, 1669; 
John, born September 24, 1672 ; Joanna, born January 6, 
1676; Elizabeth, born November 27, 1678; Ebenezer, born 
July 6, 1682. His younger brothers, Jonathan Prescott of 
Concord, and Jonas Prescott of Groton, seem to have in- 
herited more of their father's enterprise, for John, although a 
man of considerable vigor, a capable blacksmith and mill 
manager, had acted for so long a time under the leadership 
of his father, that he lacked self-assertive public spirit and 



62 JOHN PRESCOTT, 2D. 

was not especially prominent in town affairs, notwithstanding 
his great possessions. 

As the way to the mills by the old road, now North Main 
Street, was not a convenient approach for those who were 
obliged to come to the mills across the Old Common, action 
in regard to another road was taken at a town meeting held 
August i6, 1686. The record states : "Several of the In- 
habitance on the East Side of the Riuer propounded for a 
way to Goodman Prescott's Corne mill to ly ouer the Riuer 
at the Scar. Goodman Prescott told the town that if they 
would grant him about twenty acres of Land upon the Mill 
Brook lying aboue his own Land for his convaniancy of 
preseruing water against a time of drought he was willing the 
town should haue a way to the mill throw his Land." A 
committee was appointed to lay out the road, and Prescott's 
terms were accepted. The "twenty acres of land" on South 
Meadow Brook, which was granted to him in February, 
1687, was bounded by his own land north and east. Thus 
additional advantages were given to those who came from 
the northeastern part of Lancaster, now Bolton and Har- 
vard, and to those who sought the mills from Stow and 
Marlborough. Traces of the bridge built "at the Scar" 
can still be found on the eastern side of the river, a few rods 
from the intersection of High and Allen Streets, and 
remains of the old roadway are plainly visible, trending 
northeasterly toward the hill above Carter's Mills, and 
southwesterly along the Plain near the bluffs above South 
Meadow Brook. The recent extension of High Street, in 
its purpose and location, differs but little from this old road. 

A rude path led westward from Prescott's Mills at an 
early date, and this path, after various changes, became 
what is now known as the Rigby Road. How the name 
Rigby became attached to the brook or the road, is unknown. 
John Rigby was one of the early proprietors of Lancaster, 
but there is no record by which his name can be connected 
with this district, and there is little reason to suppose that 



[I 



HIGHWAYS. 63 

he or any one else named Rigb}- lived in Lancaster after the 
massacre of 1676. As Rigby is known to have owned thirty- 
four acres of meadow land, the location of which is un- 
determined, it is possible that it may have been along this 
brook. Tradition also affirms that a very old house stood 
upon the Rigby Road a century ago, which was called the 
Rigby House. 

The road to the eastward, now Water Street, probably 
existed as a private way before the close of the seventeenth 
century. The first record of it is found in 1718, when 
mention is made of a "slab bridge" belonging to John 
Prescott. This was located near the site of the present 
bridge at Harrisville. Thus, Prescott's Mills were approached 
from the highways lying on the east and west. 

During nearly the whole of the quarter of a century 
which followed 1688, the frontier towns of New England 
were in a state of constant danger from the French and 
Indians. King William's war, from 1689 ^o ^697, awakened 
great anxiety among the people of Lancaster, and they took 
the most careful measures to prevent the recurrence of the 
massacre of 1676. Thus, in 1691, we find "John Prescott 
and families" seeking safety in the garrison of Philip Goss, 
who had married his daughter, Mary, in 1690, but it was 
not until September ii, 1697, that the long-dreaded attack 
of the Indians came. The Prescott estate did not suffer, 
but among the nineteen killed were Hannah Rugg, the sister 
of John Prescott, 2d, and her son, Joseph, and his wife and 
three of their children. Hannah, another of her children, 
was one of the eight carried into captivity. This event 
seems the more sad, in that the attack occurred after 
negotiations for peace had been begun, but before the news 
had crossed the ocean. 

The complications of European affairs involved the 
colon}- in Queen Anne's war from 1701 to 1713. In 1704, 
John Prescott's nephew, Samuel, the son of Jonathan, 
accidentally committed an act that must have caused a deep 



64 JOHN PRESCOTT, 2D. 

shock in the family of his uncle. The Reverend Andrew 
Gardner's house was on the lot where E. V. R. Thayer's 
house now stands. Samuel Prescott lived on the opposite 
side of the road to the south. The journal of Reverend 
John Pike contained the following entry, October 25 : "Mr. 
Andrew Gardner minister of Lancaster, coming down from 
y^ watchbox in y*' night w"^ a darkish colored gown was mis- 
taken for an Indian and solemnly slain by a sorry souldier 
belonging to y® garrison, nomine Presket." According to 
the coroner's inquest, Prescott was a sentinel on duty, and 
challenged a supposed enemy twice, and then hearing no 
answer, fired, as he ought to have done. Although his 
neighbors did not blame him, yet he could not drown his 
remorse for having slain his beloved pastor. 

In this same year, 1704, we find "a garrison established at 
y'' Corne Mill," as follows : 

"John Prescott Sen' i 

John Prescott Jun*" i 

John Keyes i 

Ebenezer Prescott i 

4" 

This garrison must have sustained one of the "six" 
simultaneous attacks on July 31st, but no direct losses were 
reported. 

Very little is known of the John Keyes here mentioned. 
In a deed of gift of John Prescott, 2d, a Sarah Keyes is 
spoken of as his granddaughter. Since John Keyes had a 
daughter Sarah, it is probable that his wife, Sarah, was a 
daughter of John Prescott, 2d, although no record of such 
a daughter has been found. John Keyes is known to have 
been a weaver. He may have lived for a time with Prescott, 
though there is some reason to believe that he may have 
built a house near the lower end of the present Church 
Street. Tradition reports that a cellar wall was discovered 
here in the early portion of the present century, and that it 



COLONIAL WARS. 65 

was supposed to be that of a house that belonged to a 
weaver in still earlier times. He and his wife joined the 
church in Lancaster, in 1708, and there is a record of the 
baptism of five of his children: Sarah, 1708; Lydia, 1709; 
Huldah, 1714; John, 1716; Elkanah, 1718. He was one of 
the assessors of Lancaster for 1719. October 16, 1719, he 
sold to John Goss two large lots of land, within present 
Clinton limits, one of them "west of the highway over 
Rigby Brook to the mills," evidently reaching to a point 
near the mills, and another covering Currier's Flats. In 
1722, John Keyes is mentioned as still living in Lan- 
caster, and during this year, he sold a house and land. In 
1728, a John Keyes, a weaver, is mentioned in recorded 
deeds as an inhabitant of Shrewsbury. 

The meeting-house of Lancaster, having been burned a 
second time in the attack of July 31, 1704, by the French and 
Indians, a controversy arose as to where the new one should 
be built. The people upon the east of the river, as Bolton 
was still a part of Lancaster, outnumbered those upon the 
west, and it was voted that the new house should be located 
on the Old Common. November 29, 1705, the inhabitants 
of Lancaster living upon the western side of the river, sent 
a petition to Governor Dudley, praying that the house 
might be rebuilt where it had formerly stood. The argu- 
ment used by the petitioners was that the danger from the 
Indians was all on the west side, and therefore, if the riieet- 
ing-house should be built upon the east side, their homes 
would be unprotected while they were at meeting. Among 
the names appended to this petition, we find those of John 
Prescott Sen'' (2d), John Prescott Jun*" (3d), and John 
Keyes. After a year of petitions and counter-petitions, it 
was finally decided that the house should be east of the 
river, near the northwestern point of the Old Common, 
and there services were held until 1743. During this time, 
the Prescotts must have gone to meeting over the Scar 
Bridge Road. 

In 1709, we find John Prescott, 2d, and others, petitioning 



66 JOHN PRESCOTT, 2d. 

the Governor that they may receive pay for billeting soldiers 
who were located in the western part of the town for the 
defense of the settlement. John Prescott's share of the 
amount received was 2£,. 12s. 4d. A list of the frontier 
garrisons kept in the Massachusetts Archives gives the Pres- 
cott garrison in 171 1 "three families, four inhabitants, two 
soldiers and fifteen souls." This may be looked upon as the 
first census of the district. In all the garrisons in Lancaster, 
including towns afterwards set off, there were at this time 
eighty-three families, one hundred and eleven inhabitants, 
twenty-one soldiers, and a total of four hundred and fifty- 
eight souls. 

Sarah Prescott, the wife of John Prescott, 2d, died in 
1709. On her tombstone, in the old burial ground at Lan- 
caster, we can still read the inscription: 

SARAH 

PRESCOT 

HVR BLAS 

ED SOUL 

ASANDED 

UP TO HEA 

YEN JULY 14 

1709 

AGED 

ABOUT 

63 
YEARS 

He afterwards married Mary Howe, the widow of Josiah 
Howe of Shrewsbury. 

The northern portion of the Prescott estate seems to 
have been divided between Ebenezer Prescott and John 
Keyes, and all of it, as we shall see, soon passed into the 
hands of John Goss. November 24, 1714, John Prescott, 2d, 
gave to his son, John Prescott, 3d, a portion of his estate, 
including the part of the mill he had not given to Ebenezer. 
The registry indicates that he was living in 1723. 

His death marks the close of an epoch in the history of 
the settlement. From the day, more than three-score years 
before, when as a boy he had crossed the marshes of Sud- 



COLONIAL WARS. 67 

bury with his father, and entered upon the untried wilder- 
ness, his whole life had been one of constant grapple with 
nature and her savage children. He had helped to fell the 
primeval forest, and sow the first seed in our Clinton soil ; to 
lay the foundation for the first dwelling place ; to build 
the first dam ; to set the first mill-stone ; to lay out the first 
road and construct the first bridge. He had often sought the 
deer along the river banks. He had trapped the bear and 
destroyed the wolf and the rattlesnake. He had seen his 
home burned by the Indians, and his neighbors and kindred 
slain. He had been among the last to leave the ashes of the 
settlement, and among the first to return and again defy the 
dangers of the frontier. For the following thirty years his 
house had always been a garrison and, with a vigilance made 
keen by the horrors through which he had passed, he watched 
for the coming of his crafty foe, and repelled his fierce attacks. 
From his time on, however, the families at "y® Corne 
Mill" never heard the war whoop of hostile Indians. The 
struggle for existence on the part of the town and the colony 
was over. Through privations and sufferings, in frequent 
mournings for past losses, and constant dread of coming 
evils, by ceaseless watchings and tireless labors, the Pres- 
cotts, father and son, and such as they, had established the 
supremacy of the English over the Indians within the limits 
of the Massachusetts Colony, and had prepared the way for 
future development. 

The records of John Prescott, 3d, and his neighbors, are 
still more meagre than those of his father. As he was born 
in 1672, it is likely that his earliest memories may have been 
associated with the massacre of 1676. He lived in the 
vicinity of "y" Corne Mill," and probably at the old home- 
stead. After the death of his father, the whole of the 
southern portion of the estate seems to have been in his 

possession. He married Dorothy , but the date of 

the marriage and the maiden name of the wife have been 
lost. 



68 JOHN PRESCOTT, 3D. 

The Prescotts had a daughter, Dorothy, born in 1706, 
who died at the age of seven. Another daughter, Mary, was 
baptized in 1708. She died at the age of ten. Tabitha, 
another daughter, was baptized in 1710. She was married to 
Joseph Sawyer in 1731. She made a second marriage with 
Silas Brigham in 1743. John was baptized April 5, 1713. 
He married Mary White in 1742, their intentions being 
entered "March y^ 5"\" As baptism usually occurred as 
soon after birth as the health of those concerned would 
allow the child to be carried to the church, it is probable 
that dates of baptism differ but little from those of birth. 

During the life of John Prescott, 3d, we find these further 
entries in the Lancaster records in regard to the Scar Bridge 
Road: "April y** 8, 1717, on ajornment from y® 5 of March 
the Town Meet at y'' Meeting House and first John Goss 
Proposed to have y*^ Hiway moved that Goeth to y® Mill the 
Town made Choyce of John Wilder Sr & Robard Houghton 
to be a Commity to view y*' same & make Report to y'' 
Town." 

"April y® 22** 1717 The Town Meet on Ajornment from 
ye'' 8 of sd Month Upon y® Report of a Committy sent to 
View y^ Way to Prescott's Mill towit upon y^ proposition of 
John Goss & y'' Town Voted that said Hiway be moved & 
lie by y'^ River — Provided said way be kept four Rods Wide 
from y^ Scar bridge till it com to y*' Hill from y" top of y® 
River bank : and after it amount said Hill to Lye where it 
shall be most Convenient to y® Town till it Com to sd Mill 
sd Goss to Clear said Rode when that Committy shall stake 
it out." 

There is good evidence that there were at least five 
houses along this road, and the cellar-holes of several of 
them can be found to the present day east of the river. 
These houses probably belonged, for the most part, to the 
first half of the eighteenth century, as we know it was voted 
by the town in May, 1742, to remove the bridge "down to 
the road that leads from Lieut. Sawyers to Doctor Duns- 



JOHN GOSS. 69 

moors and set it up there in the most convenient place." 
This is the present location of the bridge at Carter's Mill. 
The roadway was not wholly abandoned at the removal of 
the bridge, for we read later of a fording place where it had 
stood. 

John Goss, who made the proposition about the bridge, 
was born in 1693. He was the son of Philip Goss, a Boston 
merchant, who bought the Rowlandson place, in Lancaster, 
in 1687, and who married Mary Prescott in 1690. This Philip 
Goss bought the "Washacomb Farm" of John Prescott, 2d, 
June 18, 1701. In 1717-18, John Goss received from John 
Prescott, 3d, "eighty acres of land, with the buildings there- 
on," between " Mill Brook" and the river, including some of 
the lower part of the Plain. In 1717, John Goss bought 
land now within Clinton limits, both of John Keyes and by 
way of exchange for the "Washacomb Farm " of Ebenezer 
Prescott. The deed of the former purchase, we have already 
noticed. The deed of the latter, specifies land laid out in part 
to Ralph Houghton, and in part to George Adams, and since 
purchased by John Prescott, Sr. (2d). In one lot, there 
were about one hundred acres ; in the other, land valued at 
fifty-two pounds ten shillings. Thus, John Goss must have 
owned several hundred acres in what is now the north- 
easterly portion of Clinton, lying for the most part between 
the present location of the Boston & Maine Railroad and 
the Nashua, and between Goodridge Brook and the center 
of the Plain. 

John Goss built the first dam and mill where Rodger's 
privilege, south of Allen Street, now is. His dwelling-house, 
perhaps among the "buildings" specified in the deed of John 
Prescott, 3d, to him, was upon the bluff to the east, just 
above the mill. In 1733, John Goss sold to John Prescott, 
by way of exchange, twenty-three and one-half acres west 
of Prescott's Mill Pond, receiving several small pieces ad- 
joining his own land. Records show that John Goss had at 
least six children, William, Elizabeth, Mary, John, Philip 



70 JOHN PRESCOTT, 3D. 

and Jonathan. Elizabeth married Barzillai Holt. In the 
early forties, John, William and Philip received estates at 
Prescott's Meadows in Sterling, averaging over one hundred 
acres apiece. Elizabeth Holt had fifty-eight acres there, and 
Jonathan received land in 1748-9, because he had not 
received a full share of his father's estate. The date of the 
death of John Goss is unknown, but it probably occurred 
not far from the time of the sale of his farm in 1745-6. 

At the close of the year 1717, the following entries are 
found in the Lancaster Records: "John Prescott Requests 
the town would Grant a hiway from his Land att the Slabbin 
to his medow Called prescots Medow." 

"The town Granted a hiway in answer to the propozition 
of John Prescott from his Land to the loor end of the 
medow Called preescots meedow neer where the path now 
goes to witt the parth called the dugway." 

John Prescott was in poor health for a long time before 
his death, for, upon the 25th of January, 1723, he, being 
"weak and indisposed," conveyed all his personal estate to 
Ebenezer Prescott and his wife, Rachel, subject to legacies 
to his grandchildren. He continued to live, probably as an 
invalid, for more than a quarter of a century. 

Dorothy Prescott had joined the church in 1718, and 
September 7, 1749, "John Prescott was received into full 
Communion by ye Chh at his own House having been con- 
fined by sickness and other infirmities for some years." On 
the 28th of September, the same year, his wife died, and he 
followed her to the grave on the nth of October. His new 
will, made some months before his death, is signed with his 
mark, showing his feebleness and consequent inability to 
write. 

John Prescott, ist, had estates at Groton, Washacum and 
in South Lancaster, as well as within the present limits of 
Clinton. These estates were divided between his other 
children and John Prescott, 2d, who alone remained on the 
homestead, and received by inheritance or purchase about 



COLONIAL WARS. 



n 



all the land his father had owned in this section, while the 
other children had the rest. John Prescott, 3d, had only the 
southern portion of his father's estate, while John Goss, his 
nephew, had the northern portion, largely by purchase from 
the other heirs. The southern portion of the estate, now 
known as Burditt Hill, was bequeathed by John Prescott, 3d, 
to the children of his daughter, Tabitha Sawyer. Only the 
central strip remained to John Prescott, 4th, and we shall see 
that this was divided at his death among his many children. 
After the fifth generation, no land within present Clinton 
limits remained in the hands of any descendant of John 
Prescott, the pioneer, who retained the family name. 

John Prescott, 4th, was in full possession of the mills and 
homestead on the death of his father. The other mills, 
however, which had been built in the neighborhood, had 
taken away a large share of the business of which the earlier 
Prescotts had held sole control. On account of this break- 
ing up of the estate, and loss of monoply by the mills, for 
the next two generations the family of the Prescotts was 
only one of several prominent in the life of the district. 

The fourth possessor of the estate was, however, a man 
of considerable ability. He must have owned at least five 
hundred acres of land within present Clinton limits, as we 
find records of the transfer of that amount. With Aaron 
and Moses Sawyer, his nephews, he also owned a tract in 
Princeton. He was at one time a selectman of the town, 
and he took an active part in the stirring scenes of his times. 
He put up a new house which is still standing on the original 
site a little nearer the mill than that of his father had been. 
It is the cottage-house somewhat back of the block at the 
southwest corner of Water and High Streets. John Prescott, 
4th, had ten children, five boys and five girls. 

The family record is as follows : Mary, born December 
24, 1743, married Phineas Sawyer, of Fitchburg, January 4, 
1774. Dorothy, born November 6, 1745, died December 28, 



72 JOHN PRESCOTT, 4TH. 

1746. Eunice, born November 12, 1747, married February 
26, 1772, Jonathan Whitman, who was killed at the battle of 
Bunker Hill ; afterwards married Jonathan Cutting. John, 
born December 6, 1749, married October 25, 1775, Mary- 
Ballard; died childless, August 18, 181 1 (dropsy). Rebecca, 
born March 7, 1752, married, September 30, 1789, Josiah 
Bowers, who was at Bunker Hill. Jonas, born August 6, 
1754, married March 31, 1779, Susannah Wilder; later, he 
married Ruth Kidder ; he was a doctor in Rindge, N. H., 
Keene, N. H., and Templeton, Mass.; died July 22, 1798. 
Ruth, born August 16, 1757, married February 24, 1780, 
Jonathan Wilder, who was a member of the General Court 
from 1803 to 1806. Jonathan, born July 4, 1761, married 
September 7, 1797, Ruth Glazier ; he was a constable in 
Boston for forty-four years. Joseph, born August 5, 1763, 
went West, married, and had two daughters. Jabez, born 
1765, married November 26, 1789, Abigail Gates; he was a 
wheelwright in Ohio; she was buried in Lancaster in 1827. 



CHAPTER V. 

FARMERS AND MILLWRIGHTS. 

In Februar}', 1745-6, "Thomas Goss of Bolton, Clerk, 
Joseph Wilder Jun'' of Lancaster, GenS who had received 
power of attorney from John Goss, and Mary Goss of Lan- 
caster," deeded to John Allen of Weston, "in consideration 
of eleven hundred pounds in bills of the old tenor," * * * * 
"land in Lancaster, containing by estimation one hundred 
and eighty acres, together with the Buildings, Mill, orchard 
and Improvements thereon." This land was bounded as 
follows: "South on the Land of John Prescott Jun""; East, 
it is bounded by y*^ River; North, it is bounded partly, by 
Land of Doc* John Dunsmoor, partly, by Land of Elias 
Sawyer ; West, it is bounded partly, by a private way that 
Leads to John Prescott's Mill &, partly, on the Land of said 
Dunsmoor, and it is the whole of the Land on which John 
Goss of said Town formerly lived," * * * * "Saveing that 
there is Two private ways Laid through & allowed in said 
Land, one from Prescott's Mills to Rigbee Brook and the 
other from said Prescotts to the fordway by where there 
was a bridge Called the Scar bridge." 

This John Allen was a descendant of Daniel Allen, one 
of the early settlers of Lancaster. Daniel Allen had 
married Mary Wilder, a daughter of his neighbor, Thomas 
Wilder. The Aliens did not return to Lancaster for more 
than half a century after the massacre of 1676. Ebenezer 
Allen, Sr., who had also lived in Weston, bought this 
estate of his brother, John, December 15, 1746, and Ebenezer 



74 FARMERS AND MILLWRIGHTS. 

Allen, Jr., received a deed of it from his father, June 29, 
1756. The estate had meanwhile grown to two hundred and 
twenty acres. The Aliens built a new dwelling place on the 
west side of the Mill Path about 1764. This house remained 
standing on its old site until 1879, when it gave way to the 
present residence of E. A. Currier. Ebenezer Allen, Sr., 
died in 1770, at the venerable age of ninety-four. His wife, 
Sarah, had died in 1755, when she was seventy-one. 

Ebenezer Allen, Jr., married Tabitha , and they 

had two children, Elisha and Tabitha, before they came to 
Lancaster. They afterwards had seven more, making a 
total of six boys and three girls.* The Aliens lived in 
better style than most of their neighbors, for they had a 
negro maid servant, who is recorded to have been baptized 
in 1760, and a negro man servant, who died in 1761. 
Whether these were slaves or free is uncertain, as the negro 
population of the town belonged to both classes. 

The southern portion of the Prescott estate, some ninety- 
seven acres in extent, including a considerable portion of 
Burditt Hill, as it is now called, and the land west of it on 
the brook "aboue the forge," was bequeathed by John Pres- 
cott, 3d, to the five children of his daughter, Tabitha, who 
had married Joseph Sawyer, May 10, 1731. 

*The following list of children was gathered from the Lancaster 
Records: "Elisha, born in Weston, Dec. 11, 1745; married Miriam 
Goodale of Marlboro'. The intentions were declared Feb. i, 1772. 
Tabitha, born Jan. 27. 1747; died unmarried Dec. 17, 1833. Mary, born 
in Lancaster, Jan. 14, 1749; married Titus Wilder, Apr. 21, 1773. (See 
Wilder Record.) Ebenezer, born Apr. 12, 1751 ; married Mary Henry of 
Lunenburg. The intentions were published July 30, 1772. Amos, born 
Aug. I, 1753; married Rebecca Thurston of Lancaster, July 12, 1781. 
He moved to Luzerne, N. Y. A church letter was given in 1816. Abel, 
born Apr. 26, 1756; married Mary Symmons Aug. 11, 1785. He moved 
to Sullivan, N. H., 1794. Jacob, born Feb. 13, 1758. Thankful, born 
Mar. 31, 1760; died May 9, 1761. Samuel, born June 28, 1762; married 
Lucy Smith, June 27, 1787." 



THE SAWYER FAMILY. ;5 

It will be remembered, that the first Thomas Sawyer had 
married Mary, the eldest daughter of John Prescott, the 
pioneer, in 1648. Their son, Thomas, seems to have in- 
herited the enterprise of his maternal grandfather. He built 
the second mill in Lancaster, at the water privilege in the 
Deer's Horns District, as early as 1699. It is probable that 
he may have owned some land within the present limits of 
Clinton. He, together with his son, Elias, and John Biglo, 
were captured by the French and Indians, October 15, 1705, 
and carried away to Canada. Thomas Sawyer was tied to 
the stake for death by torture, but was rescued by a friar, 
who held before the Indians a key, and told them that 
unless they loosed their captive, he would unlock the doors 
of Purgatory and cast them into its fires. This was, per- 
haps, a device of the French governor to save the captive, 
for we find that soon after he employed Sawyer and his com- 
panions to build, on the Chambly River, the first mill in 
Canada. This Thomas died in 1736, at the age of eighty-nine. 

Little is known of Joseph Sawyer, Sr., who was next in 
line, but his son, Joseph, who married Tabitha Prescott, May 
19, 1731, was the founder of Sawyer's Mills in Boylston, and 
the proprietor of a considerable portion of the land in the 
extreme south of what is now Clinton territory. The settle- 
ment of his property was made in 1753. He had five 
children. Aaron, the eldest, followed his father at Sawyer's 
Mills, while Moses, the second son, born January 13, 1733-4, 
settled upon the seventy-five acres of land received from his 
grandfather Prescott. This land was valued at seventy-seven 
pounds, an average of about one pound per acre. Sarah Saw- 
yer, his sister, received the remaining twenty-two acres, to- 
gether with other land lying along the river. Moses Sawyer 
married Mary Sawyer, April 27, 1763. He built what is now 
known as the Dorrison House on the west side of South 
Main Street, probably as a home for his bride. He joined 
the church in 1764. His first wife died in 1774, and three 
years later he married Betty Larkin. By his first wife 



'jd FARMERS AND MILLWRIGHTS. 

he had five children, by his second, eight; in all, seven sons 
and six daughters.* This family was about twenty years 
younger than that of either the Prescotts or the Aliens, so 
that we find the name of Moses Sawyer more often asso- 
ciated with those of the eldest children of John Prescott, 
4th, and Ebenezer Allen, Jr., than with those of the parents. 

The controversy in regard to the position of the church 
in 1705, introduces us to the Wilder family, some members 
of which may have settled within the present limits of 
Clinton before this date. 

Martha Wilder, a widow of Thomas Wilder, of Shiplake, 
England, came to this country, accompanied by one daugh- 
ter, in 1638. Another daughter and two sons, Edward and 
Thomas, probably preceded her. It is likely that they came 
to escape religious persecution, since the family was one of 
good standing in the old country and was very earnest in its 
Puritanism. Thomas settled in Charlestown in 1640, (his 
tombstone says Hingham, 1641), whence he removed to 
Lancaster in 1659. He lived on the eastern slope of George 
Hill, and became one of the leading citizens of the town. 

* The record of his family is as follows: "The Burths of the Chil- 
dren of Mosies and Mary Sawyer — Mosies Sawyer Born May 29, 1764 — 
(died Mar. 12, 1831.) Molley born Jan. 18, 1766 — (married Abijah Moore.) 
Intentions Apr. 17, 1788. Bettey born Apr. 18, 1768 — (married Joseph 
Rice Sept. 19, 1796.) John born Mar. 16, 1770. Sarah born May 10, 1772. 
Mary Sawyer wife of Mosies Sawyer Departed this Life Apriel 12 1774 
in the 33 yer of her age. (He married Betty Larkin Apr. 23, 1777. She 
died Apr. 21, 1844, aged ninety four.) The Children the sd Mosies hath 
had by Bettey Sawyer. Artimas Sawyer born Nov. 2, 1777 — (graduated 
at Harvard 1798 — died at Marietta, Ohio.) Joseph born Jan. 21, 1780 — 
(died Oct. 2, 1805.) Nathaniel born April 26, 1782— (died Feb. 18, 1788.) 
Peter born Jan. 25, 1784— (married Mary H. Sawyer May 21, 1807 — died 
June 2, 1831.) Ezra born Dec 6, 1785 — (died Jan. 18, 1825, a bachelor.) 
Lusena born Feby 14, 1788 — (married Ebenezer Wilder Nov. 3, 1807— died 
June 25, 1825.) Katy born Aug. 13, 1790 — (married Stephen Wilder May 
3, 1807.) Achsa born Dec 25, 1794. (Moses, the father, died Oct. 5, 1805.)" 



THE WILDERS AND THEIR NEIGHBORS. 'j-j 

After the massacre, two of his sons, Thomas and John, 
returned to Lancaster and settled on the Old Common, or 
Bridecake Plain. These two brothers apparently became 
the original proprietors of a large tract of land around 
Clamshell Pond within the present limits of Clinton. John 
was born in 1646. He is said to have been one of the 
original proprietors of Worcester, though he is not known 

to have lived there. He married Hannah , May 17, 

1672, by whom he had six children. As two of these chil- 
dren, John, born 1673, and Thomas, born 1676, had homes 
in what is now the southeastern part of Clinton, it is some- 
what doubtfully asserted that the father moved hither also. 
It is said, contrary to evidence, that in 1693, he built a house, 
where the dwelling-place of Edwin F. Wilder now stands on 
Chace Street, and that a portion of this building is still to be 
seen in the attic story of the house now located there. 

It is very probable that one or both of the sons and, per- 
haps, the father also, lived in this district during Queen 
Anne's war. After the attack of 1704, in a petition which 
was sent to Governor Dudley setting forth the lamentable 
condition of those living on the east side of the river, it is 
stated in connection with a record of losses and a petition 
for relief from taxes, as follows : "Most of y*^ Inhabitants on 
y* side have had but little or no help or protection in there 
Garrisons but have been necessitated to watch & ward a third 
part of their time at least, besides Ranging the woods after 
when Rumours & Allarms have hapened so that neere halfe 
our time is spent in actuall service & when we are about our 
own work we cannot keep to it, but lose a great part of what 
we Labour for being forced to get our bread with y*^ pril of 
our Lives which hang in Doubt continually & but little peace 
day or night & many of us have formerly been greatly Im- 
poverished by y*^ Indians, & see no probability but if they 
can againe it will be so for the future, & having lost our 
meeting house being now burnt by them this sumer which is 
a Generall loss, & also y'' los of our late minister so that we 



78 FARMERS AND MILLWRIGHTS. 

are on all accounts as new beginers & under such discourag- 
ing circumstances that our spiritts are Ready to sink & 
almost dispaire of subsisting another yeare except we may 
be under beter circumstances, but still under God Relying on 
your favorable protection & Relieffe." 

It is told of John Wilder, Sr., that when he hoed his corn 
he was accustomed to place his loaded gun a little distance 
before him, to work a few hills beyond it, and then place it 
before him again, and so on. In times of special danger, 
the people of this section went to the garrison house on the 
Old Common. 

In the controversy in regard to the location of the meet- 
ing-house, the Wilders were among the foremost of those 
desiring it on the east side of the river. Both Thomas, Sr., 
and John, Sr., were selectmen at the time, and their names 
are appended in their official capacity to the statement made 
to Governor Dudley regarding the meeting at which the 
matter was decided by a majority vote of the citizens. 

Before the close of the first half of the eighteenth cen- 
tury, quite a community of farmers seemed to have grown up 
around Clamshell Pond. John Wilder, Jr., was born May ii, 
1673. He married Sarah Sawyer. They had five sons and 
three daughters. It is probable that the family lived where 
the house of Edwin F. Wilder now stands on Chace Street. 
We have no record that any of his sons remained on their 
father's farm. Thomas Wilder was born in 1676. He 
married Susannah Hunt. He built a house near the spot 
where Daniel Carville's house now stands. The cellar of 
this old homestead can still be seen, but will soon be covered 
by the Metropolitan Reservoir. Thomas Wilder and his 
wife are recorded to have owned the covenant of the church 
in 1 718, and to have had two sons and four daughters* 
baptized at the same time. 

■*The record is as follows: "John, born Sept. 2, 1703; Jotham, born 
1710; Rachel, Prudence, Deliverance, Abigail. Lat^r Sqsannah wa§ 



WILDERS AND THEIR NEIGHBORS. 



79 



While all the inhabitants of this region had served as 
soldiers in the home guard from the first settlement to the 
close of Queen Anne's war, the Wilder family have the 
honor of furnishing the first soldiers from the present 
Clinton territory for distant expeditions. Lovewell's war 
began in 1722, and lasted until 1726. John Wilder, Jr., 
served for four weeks and five days during July and August, 
1722, according to the muster roll of Sergeant Thomas Buck- 
minster of Framingham. Little is known of the nature of this 
service. Three years later, both he and his nephew, John 
Wilder, the son of Thomas, served in Capt. Josiah Willard's 
company from June 3 to November 10, 1725. It is likely 
that Daniel Albert, who served in the same company, was 
already a neighbor of the Wilders. 

In 1740, England sent out an expedition, nominally in 
the defense of free trade, against the Spanish settlements in 
the West Indies. Massachusetts was required to furnish a 
regiment for this expedition. Capt. John Prescott of Con- 
cord, a descendant of John Prescott, the pioneer, commanded 
a company in this expedition. In the rolls of this company 
is found the name of Daniel Albert. He was probably liv- 
ing within present Clinton limits at this time in the settle- 
ment east of the river. A mark is drawn through his name, 
so it is doubtful if he accompanied the expedition. 

Lieut. Thomas Tucker obtained land near Clamshell Pond 
of Capt. Thomas Wilder of the Old Common in 1716. It is 
likely that he built there within a few years after the pur- 
chase, as we find that he married Mary Divell, May 25, 1720 
-21. They had four children, whose births are recorded: 
Admonition, William, Mary and Josiah. His homestead 
was on what is now Chace Street, on the site of the old 
Chace House. The question of straightening the road past 
his house to the Old Common gave rise to several entries in 

baptized Jan. 26, 1720-21. Titus was baptized March 8, 1723-4. 
Another Prudence was born Jan. 2, 1729-30." 



So FARMERS AND WHEELWRIGHTS. 

the records in 1721-3-4. On his death, September 19, 1768, 
his son William received the estate. William married Mary 
Kendall in 1755. His recorded children are Rebecca, 
Thomas and Sarah. There is a church record of his removal 
to Westmoreland, N. H., February 28, 1796, and at the same 
time, his son, Thomas, disposed of the estate for fifteen 
hundred dollars. 

Philip Larkin was a neighbor of the Wilders and Tuckers, 
but he lived just outside the present limits of Clinton to the 
southeast of Clamshell Pond. There is good reason to 
believe that some of the families of Butlers, as well as those 
of the Alberts, may have been living near by the Wilders on 
the winding road leading from Bolton to Boylston. not far 
from the middle of the eighteenth century. September 5, 
1753, John Moore of Bolton, sold Asaph Butler of Bolton, 
forty-two acres of land, bounded northerly on the Wilder 
farm, and bordering on land of Philip Larkin, with buildings 
thereon. October 23, 1759, Asaph Butler of Lancaster, sold 
the above, with buildings, to James Butler. In 1781, James 
Butler sold part of the same, with buildings, where "James 
Butler now dwells," to Simon Butler. Simon Butler added 
to this, farm land bought of the heirs of Hezekiah Gates 
and of Jotham Wilder. This estate is now known as the 
Woods' farm. 

Jotham Wilder, the second son of Thomas, followed him 
in the possession of the homestead. He married Phebe 
Wheeler, of Leominster, in 1746. Before 1769 they had 
eight children, four boys and four girls.* He and his family 

* Jotham Wilder entered intentions of marriage with Phebe Wheeler 
of Leominster October 3, 1746. Children : — Stephen, born Feb. 26, 1747. 
Intentions of marriage with Betty Sawyer of Harvard were entered June 
Q, 1770. She died July 14, 1814. Titus, born Dec. 4, 1749 ; married Mary 
Allen Apr. 21, 1773; Phebe, baptized Dec. 31, 1752; Susannah, born 
Dec. 3, 1753 ; married Dr. Jonas Prescott of Rindge, N. H., Mar. 31, 
1779; Jotham, born Feb. 19, 1759; married Lucy Moor of Lancaster. 
Intentions were entered Sept. 14, 1780; Reuben Wheeler, born July 6, 



GENERAL VIEW OF LIFE. 8l 

on account of their prominence and from the fact that fuller 
details of their life have been preserved, may be considered 
as representative of the little hamlet of half a dozen farmers 
who were living, during the period we are about to enter, on 
the east of the river within present Clinton territory. 

The Aliens, Prescotts and Sawyers, to the west of the 
Nashua, and the Wilders, on the east; these are the four 
families about which our history will center during this last 
half of the eighteenth century. We no longer deal with the 
record of a single family, but must try to untangle all the 
confused threads which unite the members of these four 
families with each other and with the world outside. Let 
us try to form some general idea of their lives before we 
enter into the details. 

During the century following the foundation of the 
Prescott mills, the better portion of the original forest near- 
by, had been felled for the use of the mills, but a new growth 
had for the most part been allowed to take its place, so that the 
open spaces of the district had been increased much less than 
is commonly supposed. Until the close of the first hundred 
years after the settlement, a bounty of thirty shillings per 
head was paid for the killing of wolves, but they had not yet 
been exterminated. Once, after Moses Sawyer had settled 
on what is now Burditt Hill, he noticed bear tracks near his 
cornfield. He set a trap, about twenty rods northeast of the 
present reservoir, and caught a }'oung bear, and soon after 
he shot the mother coming to the assistance of her cub. We 
are told that deer were frequently seen from the Sawyer 
house. The rattlesnake was still feared, and wild cats were 
common. 

In the midst of this wilderness, there were two small saw 



1761. Intentions of marriage with Eunice Bailey of Sterling were 
entered Dec. 28, 1782; Abigail, baptized May 12, 1765 ; Sarah, baptized 
April 10, 1768. 



82 FARMERS AND MILLWRIGHTS. 

mills and grist mills, and less than a dozen farms, each with 
a few acres cleared for tillage and pasturage. There was a 
population in 1750 of less than fifty souls on both sides of 
the river. This was all that this section of Lancaster had to 
show for the first century of its slow development. 

Meanwhile, the other sections of the old town had 
been growing much more rapidly, and one after another 
the villages had sought independence. Harvard was incor- 
porated in 1732; Bolton, including nearly all of what is 
now Berlin and a part of Hudson, in 1738, and Leominster, 
in 1740. A section to the southeast of the town, includ- 
ing a part of what is now Berlin,* was given in 1742 to 
a new precinct of Shrewsbury, the Boylston of the future. 
Chocksett, also, now Sterling, although it had been unable 
to secure full separation from the mother town, had become 
a precinct with a meeting-house of its own. 

Lancaster, including what has since become Sterling and 
Clinton, is estimated to have had a population of fifteen 
hundred in 1751. During the next fourteen years, there was 
considerable increase, so that we find, according to the 
census of 1765, on the same territory, a population of one 
thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine. In 1776, the popu- 
lation in the same territory, with the addition of Shrewsbury 
Leg, a thinly inhabited district, which had been added to 
Lancaster on the south in 1767, was two thousand seven 
hundred and forty-six. In 1780, the southern section of 
Lancaster, including Sawyer's Mills, was set off to Shrews- 
bury, and, in 1781, Sterling became a town. 

In 1784, Sterling had four hundred and forty voters, while 
Lancaster had only three hundred and seven. By the census 
of 1790, however, the population stood : Lancaster, fourteen 
hundred and sixty, and Sterling, fourteen hundred and 
twenty. 

* The irregularity in the southeastern boundary of our town originated 
from the fact that the Larkin farm was joined to the part set off from 
Lancaster to Shrewsbury, 



GENERAL VIEW OF LIFE. 8 



As the school squadron about Prescott's mill was assigned 
^3 — IS — lod out of the i^ioo that might be raised for the 
support of schools in 1792, it may be supposed that its 
population at this time was fiot far from fifty souls. The 
Allen famih', and, perhaps, some of their neighbors, were at 
this time reckoned in the "New Boston" squadron. The 
amount assessed to the Wilder squadron was £2 — 9s — 8d, 
which would give it about forty souls. It is also possible 
that some living within present Clinton territory may have 
been included in the Deer's Horns squadron, and some may 
have attended the Boylston schools, so that we can safely 
estimate the total number in the community, as a whole, 
as not far from one hundred. 

In 1800, the population of Lancaster had reached only 
fifteen hundred and eighty-four. When Worcester County 
was established in 1731, Lancaster excee<led all the other 
towns in population and wealth, and it was long before it 
lost this distinction, notwithstanding so many new towns 
were set off from her territory. The community with which 
we are dealing must be looked upon as made up of a few 
outlying farms and mills, belonging to a town prosperous 
and wealthy according to the standards of those da}'s, but 
small and only fairly prosperous according to the ideas of 
the present. 

The industries of the citizens can be judged from the 
following statistics taken from the census of 1771, before 
Sterling was set off: 

Polls 595 

Dwellings 339 

Shops and stores 61 

Grist and Saw Mills 17 

Horses 383 

Oxen 529 

Other Neat Cattle 1,124 

Sheep 2,310 

Swine. 623 

Grain, annual product (bushels) 26,905 



84 FARMERS AND MILLWRIGHTS. 

Cider, annual product (barrels) 2,689 

Slaves between 14-45- 6 

If we compare the number of horses, oxen, other neat cattle, 
sheep and swine with the number of dwelling-houses, and, if 
we note that there were about ten bushels of grain, mostly 
Indian corn, and a barrel of cider to each inhabitant, and, if 
we add to these the fruits, the root crops and the products of 
the kitchen garden, which must also have received consider- 
able attention, we can get some idea of the extent to which 
grazing and farming must have been carried on. The supply 
of grains, meats and dairy products must have exceeded the 
needs of the inhabitants, and this excess was used more or 
less directly by way of exchange to satisfy their few remain- 
ing wants. The wool from the sheep was woven into home- 
spun cloth for garments. The hides of the domestic animals 
must have more than sufficed for foot gear and for the 
leathern breeches and aprons which were so generally worn 
by the boys and men. During the Revolution, the number 
of sheep greatly increased, as the importation of foreign 
woolen goods practically ceased. The saw mills prepared 
lumber for buildings from wood cut from the native 
forests. The grist-mills ground the grain. It is probable, 
too, that the farmers of neighboring towns still depended to 
some extent upon these mills in Lancaster. Although most 
of the shops and stores must have been very small, yet their 
large number shows that they must have had considerable 
trade from outside of town limits. Rum and molasses were 
the two principal imports. The store, at which the trade of 
most of the people of this section was done, was kept by 
Willard & Ward at the cross-roads of South Lancaster. 
Willard sometimes went to England to buy goods. 

The Clinton district, which during the first century after 
its settlement had depended especially on its mills, during 
this period became more essentially a farming region than at 
any other time in its history, for while the mills decreased in 
prosperity, the farms increased, With the exception of a 



GENERAL VIEW OF LIFE. 85 

few hands at the Prescott and Allen mills and a few working 
at the trades, the men and boys devoted themselves to farm- 
ing. Their work was done by hand with rude tools, since 
modern machines were, of course, unknown. The planting, 
the haying, the hoeing, the getting in of the grain and other 
crops and their preparation for food, the care of the cattle, 
the shearing of sheep, the slaughtering, the salting down of 
the pork and beef, the cutting and hauling of the wood for 
fuel, the building of fences and walls, and the repairing of 
tools filled up the busy hours from sunrise to sunset, from the 
beginning of the year to the end. Those who were disposed 
to take things easily would sometimes gather in the village 
grocery stores and taverns and sluggishly discuss the 
weather, the prospect of crops, the affairs of the church and 
town, or maybe the condition of the colony as a whole. 
Too often they sought excitement through intoxication, and 
thus intemperance became the great curse of the community 
and total abstainers were far more rare than habitual 
drunkards. 

The hard-working women not only took care of their 
houses, prepared food for their large families and cooked 
it over an open fire or in a brick oven, but they attended to 
the milk and made their own butter and cheese, their soap 
for washing, their lard for cooking and their candles for 
lighting. They dried their own apples and berries, and 
gathered their own herbs for medicines. They made and 
filled their straw beds, their feather beds and their pillows. 
They spun and wove their linen and put together their quilts. 
As far as their floors were covered, they made their carpets 
and rugs from rags. They spun the wool into yarn and 
wove it into cloth, and from this cloth they cut and made 
garments for all the members of their families. They knit 
stockings, mittens and comforters, and made for themselves 
a hundred other things which are today purchased ready for 
use. 

Domestic servants were far less common than they are 



86 FARMERS AND MILLWRIGHTS. 

now, and few mothers could expect any aid until their girls 
were of an age to relieve them of a part of their burdens. As 
soon as they were old enough, the children had their stints. 
The girls helped their mothers in the kitchen and in making 
patchwork or knitting, and especially in the care of the 
younger children. The boys picked the stones, pulled the 
weeds, spread the hay and stowed it away, picked the berries, 
chopped the wood, shelled the corn, shovelled the paths and 
helped tend the cattle, sheep and pigs. Yet recreation was 
not wanting. The children enjoyed roving through the 
woods. Many of the boys had their snares and at an early 
age learned to use the gun. The ponds and streams gave 
bathing, fishing and skating. When a little older, both sexes 
met at the husking, and it is likely that parties for round 
games and dancing were sometimes given. In their frolics, 
the old joined as well as the young. The quilting bees, with 
the supper which followed, gave some variety to the life of 
the women. 

The following inventory of the personal estate of John 
Prescott, 3d, will give us considerable light upon the con- 
tracted life which these farmers and millwrights led. The 
values assigned to articles are very excessive. In all prob- 
ability, his whole household furniture would be worth less 
than two hundred dollars according to modern standards. 

The inventory of the personal estate of John Prescott 3'* 
1749. 

£. S. D. 

a bible — 7^ — Books of divinity & other books — 3;^. 10-00-00 

his Cash & notes of hand 59-07-00 

his Quickflock — two small oxen — 33^ four Cows — 
sixty' — a yearling heifer — 5' — eight sheep 13'- 

4^ — a horse 10' • 1 20-04-00 

his swine — two fatt Swine & two young shotes. . . . 27-00-00 

his wearing apparel of all sorts 72-07-00 

a bed in the old Chamber with the bedstead & 

Covering 33-1 5-00 

another bed in thesame Chamberwith the furnishers 25-05-00 



GENERAL VIEW OF LIFE. 87 

a bed in the Little Chamber with the furnishers & 

Curtains 60-10-00 

all the Remainder of the Sheets 30-00-00 

— — towels and Sundry other Small Linen 

Clauths 06-05^0 

two Chests a Spinning Wheel & Sundry other things 

in Chamber 16-17-OO 

a Chest a table & other Lumber in Leantoo room. 21-08-06 
an Iron box, a Chain old Syghs and other old Iron 12-12-06 
a table Iron Pot & Ketle and Sundry other things. 26-10-06 
meat tubs, barrels and other Lumber in the Soller. 12-00-06 
Chest tub, and other Lumber in old Chamber. ... 19-09-06 

an anvil & vice & other Smith tools 44-17-00 

his wives wearing aparel of all Sorts gg-oi-00 

three hives of bees 07-OO-OO 

a tobacco Knife and other Knives and forks 00-08-OO 

the Pewter dishes of all sorts 1 7-02-00 

a bed with the Lining & furnishers 60-10-00 

Four Chairs 1-12-00 

an Iron Pot and Ketle : 2-10-00 

a box and trammels i-io-oo 

wooden dishes 1 1-06 



Sum total 734-1 3-02 

In the estate of John Prescott, 4th, in 1791, we find a 
few additional articles, and values ar-e estimated much lower. 

Three of the items mentioned are : 

s. 

one looking Glass 2 

two pocket hankerChief i 

Two Silver Tea Spoons 6 

The schooling of the children was confined to a few 
weeks in the least busy season of the year. As we have 
seen, the town paid only about the equivalent of eleven 
dollars for schooling the squadron at Prescott's Mills in 
1792, and a little over eight for the squadron at Wilder's. 
The schools were probably taught in private houses, as we 
have no record of any school-house built for either squadron 
until the beginning of the present century. It may be, how- 
ever, that the children from this section went over the Rigby 



88 FARMERS AND MILLWRIGHTS. 

Road to a school-house which was built in 1743, opposite the 
present Deer's Horns school-house. There was a further 
opportunity for culture in the grammar school which was 
kept in various central localities at different times in the 
year, and was usually under the charge of a college graduate. 

Apparently the Prescotts had never been characterized 
by very great earnestness of religious life, even when 
Puritanism was at its height, and, during the period of 
religious lethargy with which we are now dealing, we have 
no reason to suppose that they, or their neighbors, were 
especially absorbed in caring for the welfare of their souls. 
Yet most of them probably attended meeting for social, if not 
for religious reasons, and Sunday was a day of partial rest 
and friendly communion. The meeting-house at Lancaster 
Center was fifty-five feet long by forty-five wide. It had 
galleries on three sides. The deacon's seat was in front of 
the pulpit and formed a part of it. The wealthier members 
of the congregation built pews, six by five feet, at their own 
cost along the walls. The remaining seatings in the centre 
of the house and in the galleries were so arranged that the 
sexes were kept apart from each other. A separate location 
was assigned to the negroes. There were two sermons each 
Sunday, with an intermission for lunch between. There was 
doleful singing, without instrumental accompaniment, from 
the Bay Psalm Book. The frequent baptism of infants gave 
some novelty to the service. The people from a distance 
still went to church on horseback or in heavy farm wagons, 
as, in 1750, there were only "three chaises" in Lancaster. 

Timothy Harrington was the pastor in the meeting-house 
at Lancaster Center. The site at the Old Common had 
been given up in 1742. He must have exerted a benign and 
refining influence as a pastor. Mr. Thayer, his successor, 
said: "In him was discovered a happy union of those 
qualities which gratify in the man, which please in the 
gentleman and which delight in the Christian. He could so 
temper his gravity with cheerfulness, his decision with mild- 



GENERAL VIEW OF LIFE. 89 

ness and his earnestness with moderation, that persons of 
both sexes and of every age esteemed, respected and loved 
him. The child looked to him as its father, the young as 
their friend and conductor, the aged as their companion and 
brother." 

Dr. William Dunsmoor was the physician generally em- 
ployed in this district. He came on horseback and carried 
his medicines in his saddle-bags. Bleeding was the favorite 
method of treatment for ills of every kind. Many of the 
medicines used had no real efficac)'. Dr. Dunsmoor was a 
man of ability, energetic in action and radical in his views. 
Although his library of about a score and a half volumes 
contained only seven works on physics and surgery, yet his 
shrewd common sense and his intense vitality made him far 
superior to the average doctor of his time. We shall find 
him a man of great influence in the community in various 
directions. Dr. Stanton Prentice and his successor, Israel 
Atherton, were also employed by some families. 

In the houses of the farmers, books were very rare, and 
almanacs, pamphlets and newspapers, which were beginning 
to circulate among the more cultured, were seldom seen 
there. Neither did people have time or means to travel for 
pleasure ; most of them had little occasion to go on busi- 
ness. Probably, a large proportion of the women had never 
been a score of miles from home. 

Yet these rude farmers and millers, with their cramped, 
toilsome lives and narrow privileges, acted worthily their 
part in some of the most momentous movements in the 
history of the world. They helped to conquer the French 
and gain possession of a continent. They helped to resist 
and overthrow the tyranny of England, the most powerful 
of nations. They helped to build up order out of anarchy 
and to organize a government which awakened the ad- 
miration of all mankind and has ever since served as their 
inspiration and example. 



CHAPTER VI. 
FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR AND THE REVOLUTION. 

In the general struggle between England and France for 
the control of North America, Lancaster, like other colonial 
towns, took a deep interest, and did its utmost, both in 
money and men, to help the mother country. 

In the earlier portion of the war, there were few soldiers 
from within the present Clinton limits. When the success 
of Montcalm at Fort William Henry alarmed the colonists, 
the militia of Massachusetts set out with all possible dispatch 
to resist his further progress. Two companies of from fifty 
to sixty men each, set out under Lancaster captains, from 
the regiment of Oliver Wilder. When they reached Spring- 
field, they learned that Montcalm had withdrawn to Canada, 
and so their services were no longer required. Among those 
who served in this expedition were Moses Sawyer, who at 
this time may have lived with his father at Sawyer's Mills, 
in the company of Capt. Nathaniel Sawyer, and Simon 
Butler, a trumpeter, in the company of Capt. John Carter. 

In the following year, 1758, while successful expeditions 
were being conducted against Louisbourg on the north and 
Fort Duquesne on the south, it was the misfortune of the 
Massachusetts soldiers to be assigned to the expedition of 
the incompetent Abercrombie, who attempted to take Fort 
Ticonderoga. As a result of his misjudgment, some two 
thousand men fell in a useless struggle. Moses Sawyer and 
Jotham Wilder were in Abercrombie's army. The former 



FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 9I 

was in the company of Capt. Asa VVhitcomb, of Col. 
Jonathan Bagley's regiment, which served from March to 
December, 1758. Asaph Butler, who was in the same com- 
pany and among those who were sick, probably lived at that 
time within present Clinton limits. Although the terms of 
Jotham Wilder's enlistment are not given, yet it is certain 
that he was in the army about Ticonderoga in 1758. Three 
members of the Larkin family, which we have noted as be- 
longing to the Wilder communit)', but living just within the 
present limits of Berlin, took part in this campaign. John 
Larkin died from disease. Four members of this family 
took part in one or more expeditions of the war. 

In the spring of the following year, Jotham Wilder, with 
his two neighbors, Daniel Albert, Jr., and Frederick Albert, 
served under Amherst in Capt. James Reed's company, which 
was probably attached to Col. Timothy Ruggles' regiment. 
This expedition took Forts Ticonderoga and Crown Point 
with little fighting, repaired the fortifications and roads, and 
built a fleet of boats, but the action of Amherst was so 
dilatory that they failed to carry out the work planned for 
them and share with the troops of Wolfe the glory of the 
capture of Quebec. 

These same men, after a winter spent at home, probably 
returned the following year and accompanied Amherst's ex- 
pedition to Montreal, which led, without any serious fighting, 
to the final conquest of Canada. 

This war, which was so wide-reaching in its general 
effects upon the history of the world, exerted its greatest 
direct local influence in arousing a military spirit among the 
people. The stories which Sawyer,Wilder and their comrades 
told of their adventures must have formed a central theme 
of interest in the narrow lives of their relatives and neigh- 
bors, and the younger generation must have been inspired 
by them to long for a similar opportunity to see the world 
and display their daring. Greater attention was given to the 
militia, and each able-bodied citizen was drilled in military 



92 THE REVOLUTION. 

tactics. Henceforth, for many years, the musters on train- 
ing days were among the most important epochs in the lives 
of the people, and military titles were the ambition of every 
aspiring youth. It was from service in this militia that 
Moses Sawyer received his much-valued commission as a 
lieutenant, and that John Prescott, 5th, received from local 
authorities the title of captain. It is more doubtfully claimed 
by some that the looseness of life in the camp, and the ex- 
ample of the English soldiers tended greatly to increase the 
intemperance and licentiousness of the American troops, 
and through them of the community at large. 

The French and Indan war enlarged the political 
horizons of men, and the citizens of Lancaster became 
citizen^ of the world. The people, no longer needing 
the help of England against the French, were more free to 
consider their own needs and rights. Meanwhile, the ill- 
judged measures of the English government tended to 
estrange more and more the sympathies of the colonists. 

We can well imagine the bitter feelings awakened in the 
minds of the Prescotts, Aliens, Sawyers and Wilders by the 
Stamp Act, the quartering of troops, and the Boston Massa- 
cre. How they must have been chafed by the conservative 
tendencies of the Willards and the other loyalist leaders of 
the town. How they must have worked with Dr. William 
Dunsmoor, Aaron Sawyer and other patriotic citizens, to 
wrest the control in local affairs from Tories whose attach- 
ment to England was greater than their love for freedom. 

The first recorded success of the Whigs came at a town 
meeting on the first Wednesday in January, 1773. The 
warrant for the meeting contained an article, "To chuse a 
Committee to Draw up our grievances and Infringements 
upon our Liberties and to Lay them before the Town when 
the Town shall so order." Under this article, a committee 
of seven was appointed. The three names first on the list 
were: Dr. William Dunsmoor, John Prescott and Aaron 



OPENING OF THE REVOLUTION. 93 

Sawyer. It will be noted that all of these were descendants 
of John Prescott, the pioneer. Ebenezer Allen was also a 
member of the committee. Thus, the majorit}- of the seven 
was made up from two men living within present Clinton 
territory, one who lived just over its northern border, and 
another from Sawyer's Mills. The resolves presented by 
this committee, and adopted by the town, were published in 
the Boston Gazette, May 17, 1773. They were worthy of a 
liberty-loving people who knew their rights and were ready 
to defend them. They are as follows: 

"I. Resolved, That this and every other Town in this 
Province have an undoubted Right to meet together and 
consult upon all Matters interesting to them when and so 
often as they shall judge fit ; and it is more especially their 
Duty so to do when any Infringement is made upon their 
Civil or Religious Liberties. 

"2. Resolved, That the raising of Revenue in the 
Colonies without their consent either by themselves or their 
Representatives is an Infringement of that Right, which 
every Freeman has, to dispose of his own Property. 

"3. Resolved, That the granting a Salary to his Excel- 
lency the Governor of the Province out of the Revenue 
unconstitutionally raised from us is an innovation of a very 
alarming tendancy. 

"4. Resolved, That it is of the highest Importance to 
the security of Liberty, Life and Property that the publick 
Administration of Justice should be pure and impartial and 
that the Judge should be free from every Bias either in 
Favour of the Crown or the Subject. 

" 5. Resolved, That the absolute Dependancy of the 
Judges of the Superior Court of this Province upon the 
Crown for their support would if it should ever take Place 
have the strongest Tendancy to bias the Minds of the Judges, 
and would weaken our Confidence in them. 

"6. Resolved, That the Extension of the Power of the 
Court of Vice-Admiralt)' to its present enormous Degree 
is a great Grievance and deprives the Subject in many 
Instances of the noble Privilege of Englishmen Trials by 
Juries. 



94 



THE REVOLUTION. 



"7. Resolved. That the Proceedings of this Town be 
transmitted to the Town of Boston. 



Dr. William Dunsmoor ~^ 
John Prescott 
JosiAH Kendall 
Ebenezer Allen 
Nathaniel Wyman 
Joseph White 
Aaron Sawyer 
Attest: Daniel Robbins, Town Clerks 



Committee 

for 
Grievances. 



The delegate to the General Court received instructions 
in terms no less patriotic. 

From this time on, the Whig leaders remained in power, 
and the measures which they carried placed Lancaster in 
the front line of the towns which resisted the tyranny of 
Great Britain. In the same year, Ebenezer Allen and other 
men of the same stamp, were made selectmen. At a town 
meeting held September 5, 1774, John Prescott (4th), was 
chosen a member of the Committee of Correspondence. 
He had already attended a convention of the Committee of 
Correspondence of the towns of Worcester County, held in 
Worcester, August 9. At this town meeting of September 
5th, and its adjournments, ammunition and guns were 
bought, measures were taken to organize one hundred volun- 
teer minute men and to stop the consumption of English 
goods. January 5, 1775, we find John Prescott's name at the 
head of a committee of fifteen appointed to see that all 
citizens stood by the cause of the patriots. Ebenezer Allen 
was on the same committee. The nature of the work of 
this committee may be suggested from the following ad- 
vertisement which appeared in the Massachusetts Spy: 

"Lancaster, July I7*'\ 1775. 
"Whereas Nahum Houghton being complained of as 
being an enemy to his Country, by officiating as an un- 
wearied Pedlar of that baneful herb TEA, and otherwise 
rendering himself odious to the inhabitants of this Town, 
and notwithstanding being warned, he did not appear before 



OPENING OF THE REVOLUTION. 95 

the Committee that his political principles might be Known. 
This therefore (agreeable to a vote of said Town) is to 
caution all friends to the Community, to entirely shun his 
Company, and have no manner of dealings or connections 
with him, except acts of common humanity. 

John Prescott, Chairman^ 

Colonel Willard, after having accepted his appointment 
of Mandamus Councillor, and having been forced while away 
from home to promise that he would not either "sit or act 
with said council," in April, 1775, joined the British in Boston, 
and never returned to Lancaster. His brother and nephew 
also went over to the British. On June 7, 1775, we find the 
selectmen, with Ebenezer Allen as chairman, asking the 
Provincial Congress what shall be done with the estates of 
these men. They were ordered to improve them and report 
to future legislatures. The estates of Abijah and Abel Wil- 
lard were confiscated. 

Meanwhile the younger men were getting ready to fight, 
and when on the 19th of April, 1775, the Lexington alarm 
was sounded, they sprang immediately to arms. Six com- 
panies from Lancaster — with two hundred and fifty-seven 
men — joined the American lines at Cambridge and possibly 
took part in the end of the fighting, as. General Heath says : 
" General Whitcomb was in this day's battle." Among those 
who answered this first call were nearly all the able-bodied 
young men from the Prescott and Wilder neighborhoods. 

Capt. John Prescott (fifth of the name) led a troop of 
horse, and with him went Sergt. Elisha Allen and Sergt. 
James Fuller. Eben Allen rode in the troop of Capt. 
Thomas Gates. Among the foot soldiers marched Lieut. 
Moses Sawyer, Jonas Prescott and Abel Allen. Stephen and 
Titus represented the Wilder family, and Larkin Corner sent 
all who could carry a musket. 

Most of these troops came back at the end of two weeks 
to attend to the planting, but some re-enlisted in Andrew 
Haskell's compan}- of Col. Whitcomb's regiment, which took 



96 THE REVOLUTION. 

part in the battle of Bunker Hill, June 17th. Among these 
were Corp. Ebenezer Allen, Jr., Abel Allen and Jonas Pres- 
cott, surgeon's waiters, and Jotham Wilder. The Prescott 
family was further represented by Corp. Josiah Bowers, hus- 
band of Rebecca Prescott, and by Jonathan Whitman, the 
husband of Eunice Prescott. The latter was killed, and 
thus the family offered its sacrifices for liberty. This regi- 
ment took part in the siege of Boston in the brigade of Gen. 
Nathaniel Greene of Rhode Island, which was reputed to 
be the best clad and best drilled in that ill-disciplined army 
of farmers, who wore their varying suits of homespun and 
offered only a slack obedience to the orders of their com- 
manders. 

It is fitting, also, to recall that Col. William Prescott, the 
commander of the day at Bunker Hill, was a descendant of 
John Prescott, the pioneer, and that he may have drawn 
the noble qualities, which he displayed, from his ancestors 
who lived on Clinton soil. Col. Abijah Willard, his 
brother-in-law, well knew the blood that was in him, when he 
replied to Gage, asking if he would fight : " Prescott will fight 
you to the gates of hell." 

It is not our province to follow the events of the siege 
until the withdrawal of the British, nor to trace the later 
course of the war until, after seven years of alternate defeat 
and success, freedom was established. The men from this 
section, for the most part, entered service only when some 
special demand for soldiers came from some point near at 
hand, and as soon as the special need was over they returned 
to their homes. Burgoyne's campaign called out a consider- 
able number of our men in 1777, and this section was repre- 
sented in the Rhode Island campaigns of 1778 and 1781. 
The following record will show the individual service of men 
from this section as far as the statistics have been preserved. 
While it will be seen that most of the actual fighting 
occurred in the campaign against Burgoyne, yet we must 
remember that in the Revolution, even more than in our 



SOLDIERS' RECORD. 



97 



Civil war, men were injured by exposure and questionable 
diet more than by battle. Disease was far more destructive 
than arms. Small-pox, especially, was the dreaded scourge 
of the American army in the early years. Although there 
are few casualties for us to record, yet there w^ere doubtless 
many lingering disabilities incurred, of which we know 
nothing : 

Daniel Albert, probably a resident at the time within 
present Clinton limits, served one month and fifteen days 
from August i, 177S, in the company of Capt. Manasseh 
Sawyer, Col. Josiah Whitney's regiment, in the Rhode Island 
campaign. 

Abel Allen, enlisted in the Continental Army. Was in 
the company of Andrew Haskell, Col. Asa Whitcomb's regi- 
ment, as a surgeon's waiter at Bunker Hill and siege of 
Boston. Served one month and eight days in Capt. John 
White's company, Col. Job Cushing's regiment, on Benning- 
ton alarm in July, 1777. He enlisted for nine months in 
June, 1778, under Capt. Andrew Haskell, and went to Fish- 
kill. He is also recorded as doing duty near Boston from 
April I to July 2, 1778, Capt. John White's company. Col. 
Abijah Steam's regiment. 

Amos Allen was with his brother, Abel, in Capt. John 
White's company on Bennington alarm, and in Continental 
Army, from May to December, 1778. in Capt. John Drury's 
company. Col. Ezra Wood's regiment, at Ticonderoga. In 
1782, he was at home, and was spoken of in a receipt for 
bounty, as Lieut. Amos Allen. 

Ebenezer Allen, Jr., served for twelve days in answer to 
the Lexington alarm, April 19, 1775, in the "Lancaster 
Troop," a mounted company under command of Capt. 
Thomas Gates. He was at Bunker Hill, in the company of 
Capt. Andrew Haskell, as corporal. 

Elisha Allen, Sergt, was in the company of Capt. John 
Prescott (undoubtedly mounted), and saw active service for 

8 



98 



THE REVOLUTION. 



the twelve days after Lexington alarm. He enlisted again in 
July, 1776, and served as sergeant in the company of Capt. 
Samuel Sawyer, regiment of Col. Jonathan Smith, until 
December 1st. The company was engaged in the affair at 
Kip's Bay, September 15th. 

Jacob Allen enlisted in 1780 for six months' service. He 
was in the Continental Army in 1781, 7th Massachusetts 
regiment. Col. Ichabod Alden, Capt. Rufus Lincoln. 

Samuel Allen was in the company of Elias Pratt from 
April to July, 1779, doing guard duty over prisoners captured 
from Burgoyne's army and confined at Rutland, Massachu- 
setts. 

James Fuller answered the Lexington alarm as sergeant 
in Capt. John Prescott's company. (See Elisha Allen.) He 
was a private in Capt. Manasseh Sawyer's company. (See 
Daniel Albert.) 

Daniel Harris did not move to Clinton territory until after 
the war was over, but from his prominence and that of his 
family in its later history, his military record is given. He 
was in the Continental Army at Ticonderoga from May to 
December, 1778, in Col. Ezra Wood's regiment, Capt. John 
Drury's company. He answered the call for troops to de- 
fend Rhode Island from Sir Henry Clinton in July, 1781. 
He was a sergeant at West Point, in Capt. Nathaniel Wright's 
company of Col. Drury's regiment, from September to 
November 18, 1781. 

It is probable that some of the Larkins, one or more of 
whom answered nearly every call for troops from the 
Lexington alarm to the close of the way, may have lived 
across the line from Berlin, within present Clinton limits. 

John Prescott, §th, as captain, led a troop of thirty-two 
men, to Cambridge, in answer to the Lexington alarm. They 
served twelve days. He was at this time twenty-five years 
of age. 

Jonas Prescott was one of the minute men who marched 
to Cambridge. He was in the company of Capt. Benjamin 



SOLDIERS' RECORD. 



99 



Houghton, Col. John Whitcomb's regiment. He was a 
.surgeon's waiter in Andrew Haskell's compan}-, Col. Asa 
Whitcomb's regiment, which took part in the battle of 
Bunker Hill and siege of Boston. He moved to Rindge, N. 
H., in the early part of the wair and served as surgeon in 
Col. Enoch Hale's (N. H.) regiment in 1778, in Rhode Island 
service. 

Moses Sawyer was second lieutenant in Capt. Joseph 
White's company, Col. Asa Whitcomb's regiment. He went 
into active service for a short time in answer to the Lexing- 
ton alarm. 

Jothafn Wilder (son of the Jotham Wilder of the French 
and Indian war), was at the battle of Bunker Hill in the 
company of Andrew Haskell, He served under the same 
captain for coast defence at Hull in the battalion of Col. 
Thomas Marshall. This battalion was raised in April, 1776, 
and was in service on the following October. In July, 1777, 
he went to Bennington in the company of Capt. John White, 
regiment of Col. Job Cushing, for one month and eight days' 
service. He was at Ticonderoga in Capt. John Drury's com- 
pany, Col. Ezra Wood's regiment, from May to December, 
1778. We find him again in Capt. David Moore's company, 
Col. John Jacob's regiment, which served in Rhode Island 
two months from October i, 1779. 

Reuben Wilder enlisted for nine months, June 25, 1779. 
He was then eighteen years old, and belonged to a lot of 
recruits of whom Washington said, "A portion of whom I 
am told are children." He was on duty at Rutland from 
October, 1779, to April, 1780, in the company of Capt. 
Ephraim Hartwell. His name is given in a list of six 
months' men, raised to reenforce the Continental Army in 
1780. The bounty given to these men was as follows: 

"Lancaster, June 23*^. 
"On the 3*^ article in ye Warrant, Voted to empower the 
Committee Chosen to hire the Men therein Mentioned on 
any Terms they think Proper, and if the s'' Committee or 

L.ofC. 



IOC THE REVOLUTION. 

any of them shall contract with any Person to Do the 
Service Required by the Orders which are the occation of 
this Vote, that the Town will in all Respects imdemnify and 
make good to each one of s"^ Committee severally all Monies, 
Damages and Expences which they or any of them shall in- 
cur by performing their s'^ Contracts, and will also pay them 
their reasonable Expences and for their Trouble in and 
about the Premises. 

"June 26, at an adjournment — Voted to Accept the 
following Report of the Committee viz: The Committee 
engage to each Man that will enlist 1400;^ Law' Money, 
such Part as each Man may want to be paid Down, the 
Remainder, when paid, to be made as good as it now is ; or 
13^. 6* 8'^ Law' Money to be paid in the Old Way in Corn, 
Beef and live Stock or any Produce as it formerly used to 
be sold, or the value thereof in Continental Money. The 
above Sum offer^ is a Bounty from the Town in Addition to 
the Wages alow", by the Court. And furthermore the Com- 
mittee Engage that the Money which may be Due from the 
State for the Six Months Service the Town will get for each 
Man that will produce proper Certificates." 

He enlisted again in Capt. David Moore's company, in 
Lieut. -Col. Enoch Hallett's regiment, for three months' ser- 
vice in Rhode Island in the summer of 1781. 

Steplieii and Titus Wilder served as minute men, in answer 
to the Lexington alarm, in the company of Capt. Benjamin 
Houghton, Col. John Whitcomb's regiment. 

While the younger men were in the field, the older men 
at home were furnishing the means to carry on the war, and 
were bearing the losses resulting from a depreciated 
currency and accumulating debts. 

Ebenezer Allen was on the committee of correspondence 
and safety, elected in March, 1776. His son, Elisha, was on 
this committee in the following year. November 24, John 
Prescott and Frederick Albert were appointed on a com- 
mittee to oppose the bills of credit issued by the state. In 
June, 1780, Prescott was one of a committee to hire soldiers. 
In July, 1780, and again in January, 1781, Ebenezer Allen 



CLOSING YEARS. lOl 

was one of a committee for the same purpose. To hire 
soldiers for the last years of the war was no easy task, and 
large bounties were paid for men to fill the quotas. The 
women, too, had their burdens, not only in the anxiety for 
their absent husbands and sons, but in the deprivations and 
added work which came from the cessation of commerce, since 
they were obliged to add to their other labors the preparation 
of substitutes for so many articles of food and clothing, 
which had formerly been imported. 

The closing years of the war, and those immediately 
following, must have been full of financial distress to the 
people of this section. As the currency depreciated, prices 
rose. Futile endeavors were made to fix the prices of com- 
modities by law. Ebenezer Allen was one of a committee to 
prepare a schedule in February, 1777. July loth, 1779, he 
was a delegate of the town to a state convention at Concord 
to regulate prices, and in August, of the same year, to a 
county convention at Worcester to adopt measures to carry 
into effect the recommendations of Congress and the state 
conventions. Ebenezer Allen and John Prescott were on 
the town committee to see that the measures were enforced. 
As Congress was unable to purchase food and clothing with 
its worthless money, it tried to levy contributions directly 
from the states, which in turn, called upon the towns. We 
find an undated bill signed by Ebenezer Allen, chairman of 
the selectmen, with other members, charging the state, 
among other items, with stockings at £1, 6s. per pair. This 
would be over four dollars by the present system of money. 
In March, 1780, the town voted "that the price of Men's 
Labour be six pounds (twenty dollars) pr day." The 
currency had so depreciated in 1780 that during that year 
the town was obliged to raise a tax of some ;^3 50,000.* 

Thus closes the record of the war as far as any par- 

*The New England "pound" (£) was not ^ Sterling, but " lawful 
money," 6s to the dollar $3.33/3 to the £. 



102 THE REVOLUTION. 

ticLilars can be found bearing upon local matters. It 
may seem a wearisome list of dry details, but for those 
who can read between the lines, these details are transfigured 
by the qualities which glow beneath. By the love of liberty, 
the heroic resistance to oppression, the unyielding firmness 
in the midst of discouragements, the patient endurance of 
privations thus displayed, our country of today and all the 
rich blessings that it showers upon us, were made possible, 
and while we pay our dues to the great leaders of the war, 
we should not forget our local debt of gratitude to the 
Aliens, Wilders and Prescotts, who, in a humble way, played 
their part as nobly. 




SOUTHERN PORTION OF LANCASTER. 1795. 

Scale, 250 rods to the inch. 
The suney for this map was made "in obedience to an order of the General Court, dated June 26, 1794-" T'le original 
has been altered only in size and in the lettering of the name. The phy.sical geography of the map is incomplete, and in 
some cases, of questionable accuracy. The roads leading north, south, east and \vest from Prescott's Mills, as g;yen in the 
map of 1830, page 182, were in existence in 1795, although omitted from this map. For convenience in reading names, the 
southern part of the map is placed uppermost as in the original. 




.?.0-i .H3Tr>//J>!Ad MO ZOITflOM ^5!3HTJOH 



CHAPTER VII. 
CLOSING YEARS OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 

Although the Revolution was over, the weight of in- 
debtedness incurred pressed heavily on the people for many 
years. The credit of the state could be maintained only by 
increased taxation. This taxation bore most severely upon 
the owners of real estate. Mortgages grew more and more 
common, and forced sales were of frequent occurrence. 

Lancaster, like all farming communities, was anxious for 
relief. In 1786, Ebenezer Allen was sent as the representa- 
tive of the town to a county convention at Leicester which 
met to consider this question. He attended the adjourn- 
ment of the same convention which met in Paxton. The 
convention resolved on a petition to the General Court, but 
Lancaster chose rather to instruct its representative. Moses 
Sawyer was one of a committee of seven, chosen for this 
purpose. While these instructions call for levying taxes by 
duties rather than by direct taxation, and ask for a decrease 
in the expenses of government and a change in the courts, 
yet they condemn in the severest terms any resort to violence. 
Shay's insurrection found little sympathy in Lancaster. On 
the other hand, the town furnished a large force of troops 
for its suppression. Two names of the younger Prescotts, 
Sergeant Jonathan and Corporal Joseph Prescott, are found 
on the rolls, and also that of Abel Allen. The insurrection 
was crushed after a brief and bloodless campaign. 

After holding the office of delegate to these conventions 



104 CLOSING YEARS OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 

called to consider financial troubles, Ebenezer Allen does 
not appear prominently again in public service outside of 
local affairs. In addition to offices already mentioned, he 
was often moderator at town meetings. He was foremost in 
the movement for settling Rev. Nathaniel Thayer as a col- 
league to Rev. Timothy Harrington in 1793, and was for half 
a century a leading member of the church. He lived to see 
the country for which he had labored so earnestly and so 
wisely, firmly established and well started on its prosperous 
career. He died in 1812 at the age of eighty-eight. His 
wife survived him some years. In "Fletcher's Reminis- 
cences," as quoted by Rev. A. P. Marvin, we find the follow- 
ing picture of the old lady and her maiden daughter, 
Tabitha. "Her, I saw several years after her husband's 
death. She was then about ninety-three years old, and her 
daughter, Tabitha, was near seventy-five, and at that age, 
she talked to her daughter just as though she was only a 
child. They had always lived together, and the relation be- 
tween mother and child had never been broken. We were 
shown large hanks of linen thread that Aunt Allen had 
spun that summer on her little wheel." 

Ebenezer Allen's farm was broken up before his death. 
The record remains of liberal portions given to three of his 
sons before the close of the eighteenth century. May 7th, 
181 1, ninety-four acres of land, with the buildings east of 
the road (now North Main Street), and five acres west of 
the road, with buildings, were sold by Ebenezer Allen to 
Aaron S. Bridge and William Bridge, of East Sudbury. 
These men did not occupy this estate, for we find that they 
were still residents in East Sudbury when they sold it, 
January 11, 1813, to Moses Emerson. 

Of the sons, Amos and Samuel Allen only remained in 
this section long after they reached their majority. In 1782, 
Amos received from his father ninety acres of land, and 
built a house on the west side of North Main Street. His 
lot extended as far south as the Rigby Road. He was a 



THE PRESCOTTS. 



105 



resident of Berlin in 1785, and had sold his farm here to 
Abijah Pratt. The house and a part of the farm passed 
through the hands of Jonathan Wheelock, Samuel H. 
Haynes, Benjamin Wheelock, Benjamin Thomson and 
Thomas W. Lyon. The latter bought in 1801, and sold the 
house and a few acres of the land to Nathan Burdett in 
iSiO. In 1814, Burdett sold to Robert Phelps. Amos Allen 
returned to this district in 1789, and bought of Jonathan 
Prescott a farm of seventy-five acres on what is now South 
Main Street. In 1795, Allen sold this to John Fry, and in 
1800, John Fry sold to John Lowe. This was afterwards 
known as the John Burdett farm. Apparently, Amos Allen 
left town again in 1795. In 1816, he received a letter of dis- 
mission from the church in Lancaster to the church in 
Luzerne, New York. 

Samuel Allen evidently cared for his aged father, and 
sometimes their real estate transactions were closely com- 
bined. He lived on the old estate, probably in his father's 
home. He owned various large pieces of land in his own 
name between Rigby and Goodridge Brooks. Ebenezer 
Allen owned an estate on the road leading from the mills to 
South River (at Harrisville), from 1808 to 181 1. Tradition 
states that Samuel lived here, at the present northwest corner 
of Chestnut and Water Streets. Ebenezer Allen sold this 
to T. W. Lyon, and Lyon sold, with additions, to Emory 
Harris in 1812. Samuel Allen lived at a later time on 
George Hill. 

In 1779, John Prescott, 5th, sold to Moses Sawyer, sixty 
acres of land along the river, which he had bought of the 
heirs of Hezekiah Gates. In 1790, he sold forty-two acres 
along Rigby Brook to Benajah Brigham. February 21, 
1783, John Prescott, 4th, sold to his son, John Prescott, 5th, 
one hundred and thirty-three acres of land "with buildings." 
If Prescott Street was extended until it met the river on 
each end, the land included between it and the river would 



I06 CLOSING YEARS OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 

have belonged to this farm. It is probable that the house, 
afterwards known as the Harris house, on the site of the 
present Tyler house, at the northwest corner of Cedar and 
Water Streets, was built by the father at about this time for 
his son. In 1790, this house and farm were sold to Joseph 
Haynes of Princeton, together with eighty acres east of the 
river, for four hundred pounds. Haynes apparently lived 
here until 1796, when he sold to John Hunt of Uxbridge. 
John Prescott, 5th, at the time of sale in 1790, went to live 
in his father's house. 

January 25, 1785, John Prescott, 4th, sold to his son, 
Jonathan, ninety-eight acres of land on both sides of the 
road from the mill to Moses Sawyer's. This would include 
the land from above the present location of Pleasant Street 
to Union Street and at some points beyond, from Mossy 
Pond to Prescott Street extended and to the river. It is 
probable that Jonathan Prescott built the house afterwards 
occupied by Amos Allen, John Lowe and John Burdett. He 
sold out his farm to Amos Allen in 1789. 

John Prescott, 4th, was already a worn-out old man, 
when, in 1786, he gave the mills and two hundred and seven 
acres of land to his youngest sons, Joseph and Jabez,* with 
the condition that each should furnish yearly to him or 
his wife, as long as either of them should live, "one load of 
hay, five bushels of Indian Corn, three of rye, three of 
wheat and one thousand feet of boards." 

Jabez seems to have been his father's chief reliance. 
In 1788, the father sold to this son for three hundred 
pounds, thirty-five acres of land, with buildings, northwest 



*The land given to Joseph and Jabez Prescott, jointly, was divided 
October 8th, 1787, so that Joseph kept the northwest portion and Jabez 
the southeast portion. In 1790, the fifty acres of the land and the saw- 
mill given Joseph, went by judgment of the courts to Joseph TurnbuU 
of Petersham, apothecary, for a debt of eighty-five pounds. 



THE PRESCOTTS. 



107 



of the farm of John Prescott, Jr. In this deed, the old 
"sullor," evidently that of the ancient Prescott house, is 
mentioned. The price paid, and the subsequent transfers of 
the property, more or less modified, show this to have been 
the house standing on the present site of C. M. Dinsmore's 
house, the northwest corner of Water and Chestnut Streets. f 

The wife of John Prescott, 4th, died in 1788, but he lived 
to see the constitution adopted, and to cast his vote for 
Washington. He died in 1791, in his seventy-ninth year. 
It is possible that his estate became involved in the financial 
difficulties of the times, or it may be that none of his 
children had the disposition to follow the business of their 
father, or they might have been lacking in ability to manage 
it successfully. However, it may be explained, it is certain 
that after one hundred and forty years of possession by five 
successive generations of the Prescott famil}-, in 1795, the 
mills were in the hands of John Sprague, the Lancaster law- 
yer, and were for some years from this time known as 
Sprague's Mills. J 

Joseph and Jabez Prescott both removed to Ohio, the 

I One hundred and twenty acres, including this lot, with build- 
ings, were sold by Jabez and his father to Benajah Brigham, of Berlin, 
and by him to Richard Sargent of Mendon in 1795. Through 
the hands of G. B. Newman, who had foreclosed a mortgage on it, the 
estate passed in 1805 to Jabez Lowe, of Leominster; from Jabez Lowe, 
"of Lancaster," in 1807, to Ephraim Brigham in part, and to J. Sawyer 
in part. J. Sawyer had eighty-seven acres of the land, which he sold to 
Calvin Winter. Ephraim Brigham sold the house and the rest of the 
land to Ebenezer Allen in 1808. Jabez Prescott sold to Moses Sawyer, 
sixty-seven acres northeast of the mill, in 1791. We shall see how this 
land was sold four years later to Nathaniel Lowe. In 1793, Obadiah 
Fry, of Bolton, bought fifty acres of Jonathan Prescott. 

Jin 1793, Jabez Prescott sold to John Sprague about fifty-four acres of 
land, and one-half grist-mill, £100. April, 1793, John Prescott sold to John 
Sprague, one-half saw-mill, £45. August, 1795, John Ballard sold to John 
Sprague, one-half grist-mill, and one-half saw-mill, £166. This gives a 
total of about a thousand dollars. 



I08 CLOSING YEARS OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 

then distant West. Jonas had become a doctor in Rindge, 
N. H., as early as 1776. After five years he moved to 
Keene, N. H., and thence to Templeton, Mass. Jonathan 
was a constable in Boston, so that Capt. John Prescott, fifth 
of the name, was the only one that remained near the mills. 
He lived in the house afterwards known as the Hoadley and 
the Evans house, now standing back of the buildings at the 
corner of High and Water Streets, and owned by Harold 
Parker. The old homestead of the Prescotts must have 
been destroyed or moved before 1788, when the old "suUor 
hole" is mentioned, but no record remains of its disappear- 
ance. Only a small amount of land was left to John Pres- 
cott, 5th, and later this was reduced to fourteen acres by the 
sale of several pieces east of the river. Meanwhile, mort- 
gage after mortgage was put on the little that remained. 
John Prescott was an active member of the Trinity Lodge 
of Free Masons, and the records that have been preserved 
of that organization show that he was often labored with for 
his bibulous habits, and on one St. John's day, he was for- 
bidden to attend the exercises, "as he had repeatedly 
appeared to be intoxicated at our public celebrations." 

It will be remembered that he had married Mary Ballard 
in 1775, but they had no children. A child lived with them, 
however, for whom he paid at the district school. He was 
for a year committee man of School District No. 10. As he 
died of dropsy in 181 1, at the age of sixty-two, it is highly 
probable that his general health was poor for a long time. 
He surely lacked either the character, the energy or the 
opportunities of his ancestors, for, outside of his position as 
captain at the time of the Lexington alarm, we find little to 
record of public service or private enterprise. His widow 
survived him, but the house and the lands which remained 
with it were sold by the administrator at auction, except the 
right of widow's dower. In April, 1814, Poignand & Plant 
bought out the rights of Mary (Ballard) Prescott. 

With the death of John Prescott, 5th, the direct line of 



THE SARGENTS. 



109 



the Prescott family, although existing in its former vigor 
elsewhere, passed out of the history of this section. In this 
family, Clinton finds its origin, and for the first century, its 
record was the history of the town. For another quarter of 
a century, the family held a most prominent position in the 
slowly growing community, and it was not until after a 
century and a half had passed since the setting of the first 
mill-stone, that its immediate influence ceased to be felt. 

From 1/95 to 1809, when the mills were pulled down, 
they were successively known as Sprague's Mills, Rrigham's 
Mills and L)'on's Mills, although the title of Prescott's 
Mills was still somewhat used. During the ownership of the 
Spragues, the mills were in charge of Richard Sargent, by 
whom, they were probabl}- rented. When Richard Sargent 
came to town in 1795, he sold out a large farm in Mendon. 
We have seen how he bought the house and one hundred 
and twenty-five acres of the land afterwards owned by 
Emory Harris. Tradition states that he was a Quaker, and 
attended the church in Bolton. It has been said that his re- 
mains rest in the little burial ground near this church, but our 
search there for his headstone proved fruitless. Margaret 
Darling, his granddaughter, who lived in his household, be- 
came the wife of Nathan Burdett. Mr. Sargent's business as 
a miller was evidentl)' unsuccessful, for he was obliged to 
mortgage his homestead in 1800 and again in 1801. The last 
record which we find of Richard Sargent is the sale of the 
privilege where the Lancaster Mills' dam now is to Daniel 
Aldrich in 1805. This had fallen into his hands through a 
judgment against Stephen Sargent. 

The part of the farm of Amos Allen, which was on the 
northwest corner of Rigby Road and Main Street, was sold 
by Abijah Pratt to Jonathan Barnard in 1790. Barnard sold 
to Jabez Prescott in 1793. Prescott sold to Coffin Chapin, 
" with buildings," in 1794. Chapin lived here for a short 
time. Daniel Aldrich also lived here. The land and build- 



no CLOSING YEARS OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 

ings passed through the hands of John Sprague, Richard 
Sargent, Jr., who died after being here a few years, Benajah 
Brigham and Stephen Sargent, who bought in i8oi for six 
hundred dollars, and sold in 1813 for thirteen hundred dol- 
lars. It is probable that Sargent erected new buildings on 
this lot or greatly improved the old ones. In the early times 
of Poignand & Plant, there were several buildings on it, 
the chief of which is still standing in a modified form in the 
lumber store of W. A. Fuller. When Stephen Sargent sold 
this estate, he immediately bought of Edward and Solomon 
Fuller the farm near Clamshell Pond now known as the Car- 
ruth farm, for fifteen hundred dollars. This Stephen Sar- 
gent married Mary Temple of Boylston, in 1801. They had 
eight or more children. His estate passed through the 
hands of Joseph Butler, Emory Harris and Ephraim Car- 
ruth to Charles E. Carruth. 

In February, 1792, Benjamin Gould bought eight acres of 
land of Jonathan Barnard on the east of the road and north of 
Rigby Brook, where the house of E. K. Gibbs now stands. 
This land was immediately transferred to Elizabeth Gould of 
Topsfield. This Benjamin Gould was born in Topsfield in 
1751. He led thirty minute men from his native town to the 
battle of Lexington. He bore upon his cheek through life 
a prominent scar caused by a bullet wound received there. 
He was made a captain and was the last man to leave Charles- 
town Neck when the Americans withdrew from Bunker Hill. 
He was at White Plains, Bennington and Stillwater. He 
was in command of the main guard at West Point at the 
time of Arnold's flight and Andre's capture. After the war, 
he was unsuccessful in business, and evidently began to build 
on his lot near Rigby Brook without any reliable prospect 
of finding means to complete his house. The cellar was 
dug, and in a corner of it a temporary structure was finished 
off, and here he and his family lived for some years. Novem- 
ber 9, 1802, Elizabeth Gould sold the land, with buildings, to 



THE GOULDS. Ill 

Josiah Flagg, for three hundred dollars. In 1804, Flagg sold 
to John Lowe. 

A noteworthy family the Goulds must have been, for the 
father, notwithstanding his poverty, retained all his old 
courtliness of manner. In the records of Trinity Lodge of 
Free Masons, we find that he received assistance on account 
of his poverty as follows : "Voted: Br Stewards be directed 
to furnish & deliver to Br Gould i bottle Wine, ditto Spirits, 
^doz lemons, 2 lbs sugar" etc. Again, it was voted : "To 
raise Br Benjamin Gould to the Sublime degree of Master 
Mason free of any expense, he being a worthy member and 
under low circumstances." The mother, from whom the 
children seemed to have derived their scholarly tastes, is 
described as wisely directing her household affairs, taking 
part in an interesting conversation and being engaged upon 
literary work at the same instant. 

Benjamin A. Gould, born in 1787, and Hannah Flagg 
Gould, born in 1789, spent most of their childhood in this 
cellar home. Here they must have received from their 
mother the rudiments of the education which made the one 
the Harvard graduate in 1814, the famous principal of the 
Boston Latin School, the learned editor of Latin classics 
and the wealthy East Indian merchant, and made the other 
the popular poet, whose verses were known and loved 
throughout the land. One of of her sweetest poems dwells 
thus on Rigby Brook : 

The pleasant little meadow brook 

That runneth bright and free, 
With what a kind of spirit look 

It smileth up to me. 
With sunny sprinkles from the skies 

Its countless ripples shine 
Like thousand living starry eyes 

All speaking into mine. 
For I was once a child beside 

A brook as clear and bright, 
'Ere life's first meadow violets died 

Or waned its morning light. 



112 CLOSINCx YEARS OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 

On the great anniversary of the foundation of Lancaster, 
in 1853, Benjamin A. Gould said : " On returning to the place 
of our birth (Lancaster) and our childhood (the site of the 
cellar house) after forty years, how changed was the scene. 
The alders had been cut from beside the brook where form- 
erly sported the speckled trout ; and the stream itself had 
been degraded into a straight and narrow ditch. The sur- 
rounding wood had disappeared. The old buildings were 
gone, and where our house stood, a village had grown up. 
But one thing remained the same ; and that is, our father's 
well. It was a shaft sunk deeply into the earth more than 
half a century ago, terminating in a living spring of ice cold 
water, which heeds not the drouth, nor the freshets above. 
This was stoned up with slate stones laid flat wise, having 
their edges smoothly cut in a circular form, presenting from 
above a beautiful hollow cylinder." He quoted from a poem 
of his sister's: 

" Though all be changed around it, 

And though so changed are we, 
Just where our father found it 

That pure well spring will be. 
Just as he smoothly stoned it, 

A close, round shadowy cell. 
Whoever since has owned it, 

It is our father's well. 
And since that moment, never 

Has that cool deep been dry ; 
Its fount is living ever 

While man and seasons die." 

After living here and elsewhere in Lancaster for many 
years, the Gould family moved to Newburyport. Here 
Capt. Gould spent his old age, rejoicing in the success of his 
children, and tenderly cared for by his poet daughter, who 
thus sings of the closing years : 

"God's blessing on his reverend head ! 
It now the crown of glory wears 
* * And fourscore years and ten have given, 



THE SAWYERS. II3 

As near the tomb they bear him down. 
An earnest lustre. Opening heaven 
Seems pouring on that silvery crown." 

Moses Sawyer, during the earlier part of his life, is to be 
thought of as the younger member of a family of which 
Aaron Sawyer, his older brother, the owner of Sawyer's 
Mills, was the recognized head. But he was a thrifty man 
and the financial troubles following the Revolution, which 
brought mortgages and forced sales to others, apparentl}- 
furnished him with his opportunity. He was as ready to 
buy as others were to sell, and so taking advantage of their 
needs he paid his cheap money for their valuable land. He 
added acre to acre until his farm extended from the Nashua 
on the east to a line connecting the western ends of Sandy 
and Mossy Ponds, and from the southern limits of Clinton as 
it stands to-da}', to the Lancaster Mills dam and the foot of 
Burditt Hill. We have seen, too, how he bought of Jabez 
Prescott a large tract of land between South Meadow Brook 
and the river, and he had another large tract in Princeton. 
He must have owned, first and last, considerably over a 
square mile of land, and, when he died in 1805, he left over 
five hundred acres to be divided among his heirs. Thus, 
next to John Prescott, the pioneer, he was the greatest land 
owner who ever lived within present Clinton limits. 

His executive ability was recognized by his fellow citi- 
zens, whom he served for several years as selectman. He 
was often made moderator of their town meetings. He was 
prominent in church affairs. His appreciation of liberal 
studies is shown in the fact that he gave his son Arteinas a 
college education. This son graduated at Harvard in 1798, 
and was, as far as known, the first man, born within the pres- 
ent limits of Clinton, to receive a college degree. This Arte- 
mas Sawyer studied law and went to Marietta, Ohio, where 
he was killed by being thrown from a horse. 

The story of the life of Moses Sawyer, Jr., the eldest son, 
belongs to the history of Lancaster, as he spent little of his 



114 



CLOSING YEARS OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 



manhood in this section of the town. In 1792, he married 
Elizabeth Divoll. His father built for the young couple the 
southern end of the house now known as the Sawyer-Burdett 
house, a short distance from the old homestead. The son 
also received a portion of his father's farm. It was here, 
May 7, 1793, that the eldest child, Sally, was born, whose 
life of over a century was a connecting link between the 
present and the far distant past. The character of the 
family to which she belongs is shown in the following ex- 
tract from an article on the approach of her hundredth birth- 
day: 

"Though of a quiet and retiring disposition, yet she is of 
that sturdy New England type of womanhood of the old 
school. She possesses a deep religious character of the con- 
servative orthodox type, and on the Sabbath, when she sits 
at her window and observes her neighbors going up to the 
house of worship, it gives her unfeigned pleasure. However, 
she deplored the fact that church-going is not now so gen- 
eral as in the "olden time," when it was the exception, rather 
than the rule, to be absent from the sanctuary." Moses 
Sawyer, Jr., sold out his farm to Ezekiel Rice and moved to 
South Lancaster, where he remained, an influential citizen, 
until his death in 1831. 

Peter Sawyer, at the death of his father, received half the 
old dwelling-house, but, in 1813, he built upon the main por- 
tion of his inherited farm in the intervale through which 
Mine Swamp Brook flows, just before it joins the river. 
Here, it is doubtfully claimed, he had a brick kiln and made 
bricks for Poignand & Plant when they were building the 
cotton mill on the Prescott Mills' water privilege. His only 
way of reaching his house was by a private cart-path run- 
ning where the road to the east of Sandy Pond is now 
located. He still kept up most neighborl)' relations with 
the folks on Burditt Hill. He had two daughters and five 
sons whose births are recorded. Of these, Peter, born No- 
vember 18, 1811, spent his long and useful manhood as a 



THE SAWYERS. II5 

citizen of Clintonville and Clinton. Peter Sawyer, his 
father, died in 1831. 

Ezra, who remained a bachelor, lived with his mother in 
the old homestead. She was familiarly known as Grandma 
Betsy Sawyer, and lived, a remarkably bright old woman, to 
the great age of ninety-four. In 1814, when the activity of 
the British navy excited fear all along the coast, a company 
of artillery, and one of infantry, went from Lancaster to take 
part, if necessary, in the defense of Boston. The company 
of infantry was commanded by Capt. Ezra Sawyer. This 
company probabl}' included some from this district beside 
the captain, but, as the rolls have been lost, their names will 
never be known. Their term of service lasted only a week. 
This Ezra Sawyer was a school teacher during the winters 
and, as far as he was able, worked the rest of the year upon 
the farm. 

An accident, which happened in the spring of 181 5, weak- 
ened his health and shortened his life. He, with Samuel 
Newton, a young man of twent)'-seven, and Daniel Felton, 
who was twenty-three years of age, started out on the even- 
ing of April i8th, to spear "suckers" in Sandy Pond. As 
they left the house, one of the women folks asked when they 
would return, and Newton jokingly answered: "When we have 
drowned Capt. Sawyer." They launched their boat, which 
was a new one, and, as the darkness gathered, lighted their 
torches. For a while, they had good sport, but after an hour 
or so, when they were some rods from the northwest corner 
of the pond where the water is more than thirty feet in 
depth, the boat was upset. Of course, the lights were put 
out, and the oars were lost in the darkness. Newton and 
Felton could swim, but Sawyer could not. They helped him 
to keep above water as they righted the boat, and then he 
climbed into it. Then they attempted to push the boat to 
the shore, but one of them sank, and the other, thoroughly 
chilled and exhausted, said that he must swim in and bring 
help. He attempted to do this, but he was too far gone, and 



Il6 CLOSING YEARS OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 

soon Sawyer listened in vain for the strokes of the swimmer, 
but heard instead the gurgling of his drowning comrade. He 
must now paddle the boat to the shore with his hands. He 
was able to accomplish this after a long time, but he was too 
chilled and exhausted to stand. About midnight, he made 
his way on his hands and knees to his house and told his 
story. Mrs. Newton, frantic with fear and grief, ran to the 
neighboring house of Nathan Burdett and roused him to go 
and look for her husband. He, getting what help he could, 
hurried to the pond, hoping to find that Newton and Felton 
had reached the shore, and had been lost in the woods. But 
the search was in vain. It was not until they dragged the 
pond the following day that the bodies were found. Capt. 
Sawyer never got over the shock, although he lived on for 
ten years afterward. 

Zebulon Rice of Boylston had a family of seventeen or 
eighteen children. Joseph, one of the youngest of these, 
was born August 6, 1769. He became a basket maker. Sep- 
tember 29, 1796, he married Betsy, the daughter of Moses 
Sawyer. They had three sons and three daughters. It is 
possible that they lived in Boylston for a few years, as they 
were both admitted to the church in Lancaster, by letter from 
the church there, April 13, 1800. A house at the present 
corner of South Main and Coachlace Streets was given to 
Betsy Sawyer as a dowry, by her father, Moses Sawyer. In 
a paper given before the Clinton Historical Society, Judge 
C. C. Stone said : " It is described as being a small three- 
roomed house, with small, diamond-shaped panes of glass in 
the windows, indicating that it was very old." Joseph Rice 
lived here for some years. Neither record or tradition has 
preserved any account of the building of this house. As the 
land is supposed to have belonged to the Prescotts until it 
came into the hands of the Sawyers, it was probably the 
work of one or the other of these families. The farm of 
Joseph Rice, acquired by his wife's inheritance and by pur- 



THE RICE FAMILY. II7 

chase, was about one hundred acres in area. It reached from 
the river at the now submerged intervale below Rattlesnake 
Ledge, to Mossy Pond. It lay north of the estate bought by 
Ezekiel Rice of Moses Sawyer, Jr., for whom, as will be 
remembered, his father, Moses Sawyer, Sr., had built the 
Sawyer-Burdett house.* 

In 1823, Joseph Rice built for himself and his son, 
Nathaniel, who married Anna, the daughter of Jacob Stone, 
a new house on the site of the old one. This remained in 
existence less than thirty years, being burned in the spring 
of 185 1 or 1852. The story is told of Mrs. Rice that, as she 
went after wood one day, she found in the wood-house a 
huge rattlesnake. Seizing a stick of wood, she killed the 
snake. She afterwards "tried it out," and obtained about a 
pint of oil from it for medicinal use. Joseph Rice, Jr., was 
the second son. Abel Rice, the third son, was a noted 
mover of buildings. 

There is considerable doubt as to when the saw-mill, near 
the present position of the Woolen Mill dam, was built. It 
is certain that Prescott, the pioneer, had a mill at this point. 
It is possible that there was a bloomery here in the middle 
of the eighteenth century. Some ascribe the building of a 
saw-mill in 1790, to Moses Sawyer, Sr., others to David Rice, 
a brother of Joseph, while others say that a mill was built 
by Peter Sawyer, either alone or in company with his 
brother-in-law, Joseph Rice. But papers which are still in 
existence, show clearly that a mill was built by Joseph Rice 
in 1801, with money furnished by his father-in-law, Moses 
Sawyer. It had a small reservoir and a fall of some ten 
feet. It was the custom to hold back the water to fill the 
reservoir, and thus great inconvenience was caused to the mill 

* An old well was discovered in the early part of the present century- 
near Rattlesnake Ledg-e, and not far from the Clinton Reservoir. It is 
said that there were some old apple trees beside it, and that bricks were 
turned up near by. If any house ever existed here, the story of it has 
been irrevocably lost. 



Il8 CLOSING YEARS OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 

below at the old Prescott privilege. This is one of the reas- 
ons why the owners of that privilege, Poignand & Plant, pur- 
chased the mill of Joseph Rice in 1814. The amount paid 
was five hundred and ninety-five dollars. The mill is said to 
have had a good business while it remained in existence. 
In 1802, Ezekiel Rice of Northboro bought of Moses Saw- 
yer, Jr., the house on North Main Street where Moses Sawyer, 
Jr., was then living. Ezekiel Rice moved hither, and lived 
here until 1814, when he sold his farm to Nathan Burdett. 

About 1796, Jacob Stone bought of Ephraim Bennett, 
of Boylston, some three hundred acres of land lying along 
the old county road from Lancaster to Worcester, and 
extending from Sandy Pond to the Boylston line. This 
Jacob Stone was the son of Isaac and Keziah Stone. Isaac 
Stone was the son of Dea. Simon Stone, for many years the 
leading citizen of Harvard, who traced his ancestry to Dea. 
Simon Stone of Watertown, who came from England in the 
ship. Increase, in 1633. An inventory of the estate of Dea. 
Simon Stone, of Harvard, in 1746, shows how restricted the 
life of those days must have been compared with ours, since 
such articles as the following were deemed worthy of 
mention in an estate of a leading citizen : "A loom and 
tackling ... a lanthorn; a looking-glass; . . . wheels and 
cards; flax combs; sheep shears; ... a warming pan; skil- 
lets; a fire-slice; trammels; keelers; a razor; a pigeon net." 
Isaac was born in 1725, and had taken part in three cam- 
paigns of the French and Indian War, in two of which, he 
held the office of corporal. He spent most of his married 
life in that part of Lancaster which became Boylston in 
1786. Jacob Stone was born Aug. 25, 1770. As he grew up, 
he learned the carpenter's trade, for which he and his sons 
were so distinguished in after years. Soon after the pur- 
chase of his farm, he began to build a house just a few rods 
north of Mine Swamp Brook, on the east side of the road. 
This house was a large one for those days, being about 



THE STONES. 



119 



thirty feet square and two stories in height. A kitchen ex- 
tended along the whole of one side, with a huge fireplace 
occupying a considerable part of one of the long sides of 
the room. There were doors at either end of the room, 
which led directly to the open air. The three rooms on the 
other side of the house opened from the kitchen, as did the 
stairways to the cellar and second story. North of the 
house, was a driveway, leading to the large barn situated 
well back of the house. At the north of the house, on the 
other side of the driveway, was a long, low building, a part 
of which was used as a carpenter's shop and a part as a 
carriage-house. A house built by Robert King, and now 
occupied by Joseph Leadbetter, is near the spot where the 
Stone house stood. 

As soon as his new home was completed, Mr. Stone 
brought to it his bride, Martha Barnes, of Boylston, whom 
he married September 28, 1793. Their married life together 
was very brief, for she died in less than two years, and her 
infant twins died at the same time. May 11, 1797, Jacob 
Stone married Anna Barnes, by whom he had five sons and 
seven daughters. The five sons were : Joseph, James, Jacob, 
Abel and Oliver. All became carpenters, and the four 
daughters who married, had carpenters for their husbands. 
One of the other daughters died in childhood, and two others 
were never married. In addition to his own large family, Mr. 
Stone generally had several apprentices living at his house, 
and his father, Isaac Stone, spent his last years with him, 
dying September 14, 1816, at the venerable age of ninety- 
three. 

For over a quarter of a century, Jacob Stone was the 
most noted builder in all the region round, having at times a 
score of men and boys in his working force, and many of 
the most important contracts fell into his hands. Among 
these, was one for the woodwork of the Brick Church in Lan- 
caster, which was built in 18 16, and some of the arched 
bridges of the town were constructed by him. He, and his 



120 CLOSING YEARS OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 

sons after him, were especially noted for the framing and 
raising of houses, work that was very different in those days 
from what it is at present. The timber used was much 
heavier, and the tools much more simple. As it would have 
been difficult for an ordinary force of carpenters to raise a 
large house alone, it was customary to invite all the men 
in the neighborhood to a raising.' The dozen or so men who 
were thus called together fell to working with might and 
main until at last the ridge-pole was laid, and then the liquor 
was passed around, and there was a grand merry-making to 
celebrate the occasion. The boys, who had been "hanging 
around," and occasionally assisting by tossing pins to the 
men upon the frame, or by running errands, esteemed them- 
selves happy if they were allowed to clean out the rum- 
soaked sugar from the bottom of the glasses. 

April 12, i8i8, Mrs. Stone died, and on April 14 of the 
following year, Mr. Stone married Isabella Bennett. She 
had no children of her own, but the younger portion of the 
family were brought up by her. The children went to 
school in Boylston, as it would have been two miles to the 
nearest of the Lancaster schools. As their nearest neigh- 
bors were a mile away by the road, the family, and those 
who lived- with them, contsituted a little community by 
themselves. In the latter part of his life, Mr. Stone met 
with business reverses, and in the hard times in the latter 
half of the thirties, had to give up his house where he had 
lived for more than forty years, where plans had been 
matured for the many buildings he had constructed, where 
his children had been born and reared, and which had been 
endeared to him and his family by scenes of joy and suffer- 
ing. He moved to the Fitch place, in Sterling, where he 
lived until July 8, 1847. Joseph, his eldest son, who never 
married, was living with him and caring for him when he died. 
The house near Mine Swamp Brook was burned soon after 
Mr. Stone moved away. It was not occupied after Mr. Stone 
left it. 



MINE SWAMP REGION. 121 

We shall have occasion in later history to note the work 
of James and Oliver Stone and their descendants ; and also 
that of Nathaniel Rice, the husband of Anna Stone, and 
Levi Greene, the husband of Achsah Stone, and their 
descendants. 

There was a cart-path, leading from the road b}- Mr. 
Stone's, and running along in the valley of Mine Swamp 
Brook to the point where it flows into the river by the home- 
stead of Peter Sawyer. On the brook about half way 
between the houses of Mr. Stone and Mr. Sawyer, tradition 
says there was a little saw-mill in early times, and credits the 
building of it to Moses Sawyer. At the beginning of the 
present century, this region was owned by Jonathan Samp- 
son of Boylston, who bought the land, one hundred and 
forty acres in extent, of Thomas Gates in 1793. No build- 
ings are mentioned in the deed. Sampson sold it in 1801 to 
John Severy of Boylston, who immediately transferred it to 
his father, John Severy of Sutton. A small, one-story 
house was built by the stream. According to tradition, there 
was another little house near by. It may be that bricks 
were already made in small quantities of the fine clay found 
here, and it may be that Severy varied his work by doing 
some tanning of leather. 

This region was regarded as an unluck)' one during the 
first half of the century, and the superstitious believed that 
it was haunted. In this brook, two young ladies, Charlotte 
and Mary Sawyer, were drowned near the mill soon after it 
was built. They had been visiting in Boylston, and a violent 
storm had arisen which had swollen the brook to a torrent. 
They felt obliged to return to their home, notwithstanding 
the danger. As they were attempting to ford the stream, 
both on one horse, the horse slipped and both fell off and 
were drowned. Their bodies were recovered and carried to 
Moses Sawyer's and buried in his family lot, which is now 
submerged by Coachlace Pond. A while after, a stranger 



122 CLOSING YEARS OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 

was discovered on the roadside by Mr. Sawyer's house on 
Burditt Hill. As he appeared to be suffering from small- 
pox, he was carried to one of the houses at Mine Swamp 
Brook and died there and was buried near by. Certain 
facts and events connected with the Severy family added to 
the superstitious feeling in regard to the place. Children 
dreaded to go near it after nightfall, and even the imag- 
ination of men of sound common sense was so worked upon 
that they honestly believed and declared that, as they sat in 
the house, they had heard the approaching hoof-beats of a 
galloping horse which seemed to stop at the door, but when 
the door was opened, no horse or rider could be seen, and 
there was no sound save the wind which moaned mysteriously 
about the building. 

Leaving legends, and coming to the Lancaster records, 
we find that John Severy, Jr., who evidently occupied the 
house, married Phoebe Kendall, December 9, 1779, and that 
he died at the house of Winsor Barnard, his son-in-law, who 
lived at that time in the Peter Sawyer place, where the brook 
joins the Nashua, September 10, 1834, at the age of eighty- 
two. Winsor Barnard had married Phoebe Severy November 
28, 1813. It is stated that John Severy had two sons and 
four daughters, and that he was a revolutionary pensioner. 
In 1818, the place passed from his hands into those of Levi 
Howe, who was born in Lancaster, in 1764. He had a 
daughter, Dolly Stratton Howe, born August 7, 1821. She 
was his only child. He lived here for some years. He sold 
part of his farm to Capt. Artemas Harrington, who married 
Martha Stone. Mr. Harrington did not buy the house, but 
built one east of the mill over the Boylston line. It is said 
that he started the first brick kiln, digging his clay from 
the place which was afterwards filled by Cunningham's Mill 
Pond. He died shortly after this purchase, and his wife sold 
the brickyard and estate to Ezra and Luke Sawyer, in 1844. 
The Howe house and that built by Harrington have both 
been destroyed. 



SOUTH MEADOW ROAD. 1 23 

On the South Meadow Road on a farm afterwards owned 
b}- John Sheehan lived James Elder. He came from Wor- 
cester, and married Sarah Gates of Lancaster, January 16, 
1770. He was familiarly known as the "General." He 
organized a compan)' of drunkards, whom he alwa}'s 
marshalled on muster days. James Pitt sa}'s in his "Rem- 
iniscences": "The qualifications for enlistment were, to be 
drunk on three public days, and each man to provide himself 
with the necessary uniform and equipments, which were as 
follows: The uniform was to be a red face; the equipments, 
a junk-bottle, stake and withe. The bottle was a flask, in 
which to carry the powder (they used liquid powder instead 
of kerneled), the stake was to be driven into the ground, 
when the soldiers were so drunk they could not stand alone; 
and the withe was to fasten them to the stake." Whenever 
Elder heard that any one was drinking heavily, he always 
called on him and claimed him as a recruit. When a leading 
man in the town fell into his fireplace under the influence of 
liquor. General Elder ordered his adjutant to call out the 
company. When asked what he was going to do, he replied: 
"I am going to storm hell ; the soldiers are beginning to eat 
fire already." 

"Cuff Tindy" lived north of the Elder farm. He was a 
negro, black as ebony. He drew a pension for his services 
in the Revolution. He lived with Perley Hammond, his 
nephew. He died at a great age, about 1824. Perley Ham- 
mond was a mulatto, and married a negress. His father was 
a negro, and his mother pure white. The house in which he 
lived was said to have been the last log house in Lancaster. 
The family was well-to-do, and had a snug farm. In 1820, a 
new house was built. Hammond was a blacksmith, and an 
excellent mechanic. He died in 1826. The property was 
squandered by his cousin, Murray Waterman. Some of the 
citizens can yet remember "Miss" Hammond, Perley's 
widow, the fortune teller who disclosed to them the mys- 
teries of fate for a dime. 



124 



CLOSING YEARS OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 



Samuel Dollison, or Dorrison, was brought up on the 
farm now known as the Howard or Bingham place, on the 
South Meadow Road. Both of his parents were practical 
jokers. One day, John Dollison, the father, to gain protec- 
tion from a thunder shower, crawled into a sugar tierce that 
stood on the brow of a hill. There he sat placidly smoking, 
but his wife saw her opportunity to repay the old gentleman 
for some of the jokes he had played on her, and running out 
in the rain, she started the tierce rolling down the hill. He 
felt sore in more senses than one, until he had "got even" 
with his wife. 

John Goldthwaite, the broom-maker, lived in the old 
rickety house known as the Rigby place. In the latter part 
of his life, he lived entirely alone. In 1799, Daniel Aldrich, 
of Uxbridge, owned this place. Within the next few years, 
it passed through the hands of Stephen Sargent, Eben 
Southwick, John Hunt, and Stephen Sargent, a second time. 
Ebenezer Pratt bought the farm in 1819, and erected a small 
house of two stories. He married Emily Rice, the daughter 
of Joseph Rice. They had six children. About 1830, his 
house and farm were sold to Joseph Rice. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE COMMUNITY EAST OF THE RIVER. 

As the community east of the river remained a farming 
people until nearly the middle of the nineteenth century, 
and thus was not brought into very close connection with 
the comb-makers and cotton manufacturers on the other 
side, it is proposed to take a comprehensive view of the 
leading families, until their farming life was broken up by 
the development of manufacturing industries. 

Of Jotham Wilder, the farmer and cattle raiser, whom 
we took as the representative man of the district east of the 
Nashua, little is known after the close of the French and 
Indian war. He continued living for some years at the old 
homestead, near the site of the Carville house, on a large 
farm of three hundred acres or more. Tradition relates 
that, between 1760 and 1770, an event occurred, which must 
have filled the latter part of his life with gloom. He and 
his nephew, Aurelius Collis Wilder, were ploughing one day 
about a mile above the present location of the Lancaster 
Mills' Bridge, when they happened to see a deer. The old 
man took his gun, which he had with him in hopes that he 
might get some game, and followed the deer, telling his 
nephew to stay in the field. But the young man, after his 
uncle had disappeared, followed him. After a while, the 
farmer, all intent on killing the deer, saw a movement in the 
underbrush, and, as it parted, he fired. The shriek of his 
nephew told him of his awful mistake. He hastened to his 



126 THE COMMUNITY EAST OF THE RIVER. 

aid, but when he reached him the wound had already proved 
fatal. 

Stephen Wilder, the eldest son of Jotham, will be recalled 
as a Revolutionary soldier. He settled on a portion of his 
father's farm to the northwest of the homestead. His house 
was near the present Jonas E. Howe place. He married 
Betty Sawyer, of Harvard, in 1770, and they had seven boys. 
He was a very prosperous farmer, leaving at his death, in 
1820, an estate valued at eight thousand dollars. Levi, his 
eldest son, having died at the age of eighteen, John, the 
second son, tried to manage the farm. He was familiarly 
known as Doctor John Wilder, as he had studied medicine to 
some extent, although not enough to receive a degree. As 
he became indebted to his brothers for their share in the 
estate, he found it difficult to pay his interest, and finally be- 
came dependent on his children. He had married Sally 
Moore, of Boylston, and they had five sons and four 
daughters. John, one of his sons, became a Baptist minister 
of note, and another, Levi, was a teacher of music. Leonard 
Pollard, a son-in-law, managed the farm for a good many 
years, but he was killed by lightning, in 1834. Franklin, the 
fourth son, then tried to take his father's estate, but the load 
of his misfortunes, finally culminating in the burning of his 
house in 1842, made him insane. There are none of the 
descendants of Stephen Wilder in the male line now living 
in town. 

Titus Wilder followed his father, Jotham Wilder, at the 
old homestead, and he received about one hundred and forty 
acres of his farm. We have seen him as a soldier of the 
Revolution. From his marriage with Mary Allen, sprang a 
family of eight children. Of these, Elisha succeeded his 
father on the farm, having married Emily Pollard. He had 
three sons and two daughters. He built the Carville house, 
recently burned. He died at the age ot forty-three, in the 
year 1836. Titus Wilder, the father, died at the Poor Farm, 
as a Revolutionary pensioner, in 1837. Titus, his second 



THE WILDERS. 



127 



son, became a school-teacher, and, it is said, taught in every 
district of Lancaster. He served with his brother, Ebenezer, 
in the war of 1812. They were in an a-rtillery company, 
which was on duty about Boston for a few weeks in 18 14, 
when Boston feared the coming of the British fleet. They 
thus kept up the patriotic tradition of the family. Titus 
died in 1833. 

Ebenezer, the third son, settled on a portion of his 
father's farm, near Clamshell Pond. He married Lucena, a 
daughter of Moses Sawyer, November 3, 1807, and after her 
death, in 1825, he married Clarissa Keyes, of Berlin. He 
had a dozen children, seven sons and five daughters. He 
was well educated. A daughter says of him : " Father 
was a man of superior mind. He read many portions of 
Homer and Virgil b)- the light of pine torches at the age of 
sixteen, and he never forgot them." He was a teacher in 
the common schools. It is said that he was the first teacher 
in the South Woods school-house, which was built in 1809. 
He died in 1858. His descendants of the second and third 
generations are still living in town on Chace Street, so that 
this family may claim the longest continuous, or nearly con- 
tinuous, citizenship in the male line of this community, since 
it has lasted through two hundred years and some eight 
generations. 

The farm of about eighty acres next beyond the old 
Wilder-Carville estate to the east, was occupied from about 
1781 to 1802 by Simon Butler, who married his cousin, Eliza- 
beth Butler, in 1782. They had one son and two daughters. 
In 1 791, he married Eunice Butler, another cousin, by whom 
he had two sons and one daughter. All the children of the 
second marriage were either deformed or imbecile. Titus 
Wilder, Jr., who married Eunice, a daughter of the first 
marriage, took part of the farm on the death of his father- 
in-law, in 1802, and a part went to Simon Butler, 2d, who 
sold out his share to Peter Larkin, 2d, in 181 5. Most of it 



128 THE COMMUNITY EAST OF THE RIVER. 

passed, after several transfers, to Baxter Wood, whose 
grandson still controls it. In 1820, Joseph Butler built the 
house which stands first on the right after passing the Lan- 
caster Mills' bridge. He bought the land of Reuben 
Hastings. Joseph Butler is recorded to have had seven 
children. He had married Parney Temple, of Boylston, a 
sister of Stephen Sargent's wife. 

The Carruth house was built by James or Edward Fuller, 
who, as tradition reports, had a farm here of an hundred 
acres, not far from the middle of the eighteenth century. 
He had, we are told, a family of three sons and one daugh- 
ter. Ignatius Fuller, who married Anna Reed, of Sterling, 
in 1787, owned this land in 1796; Edward, in 1798. Edward, 
who had married Susannah Maynard. of Berlin, in 1802, 
remained on the old place, which was sold in 1813 to Stephen 
Sargent for fifteen hundred dollars. The farm then con- 
tained one hundred and five acres. The evidence in the 
registry of deeds in regard to these Fullers is not complete. 

On the bridle-road, leading off toward Clamshell Pond, 
James Fuller, Jr., "cordwainer," built a house. He bought 
land of Thomas Gates, and others, in 1778, and of William 
Tucker, in 1788. James, Jr., and his wife, Sarah, are re- 
corded as baptized in 1775. There is also a record of the 
baptism of five daughters. We have already noted the 
service of James Fuller in the Revolution. He died in 1831, 
at the age of eighty-one. One, Robert Hudson, a "Briton," 
of Shrewsbury, who married Dinah Butler, July 12, 1780, is 
said to have built a house and settled at the end of this same 
bridle-road nearer Clamshell Pond, He was a shoe-maker. 
Stephen and Titus Wilder sold him land, the former in 1795. 
In the deed of the latter, the land is said to be near the 
house where "Robert Hudson now dwells." The death of 
his wife, in 1806, appears in the records of the first church 
of Lancaster. In 1807, he married Polly Fife, of Berlin. 
In 1813, Robert Hudson, Sr., sold to Robert Hudson, Jr., 
the estate, on condition of support for self and wife. The 
estate was immediately sold to Rufus Sawyer, of Berlin, 



FAMILIES ABOUT CLAMSHELL POND. 



129 



For lack of documents we are obliged to rely on tradition 
for the statement that Daniel Albert lived in what is now 
known as the Cannon house. The elder Daniel Albert married 
Mar)' Houghton, December 2, 1725. She died soon after, 
and January 25, 1726, he married Abigail Houghton. By 
her, he had three sons and three daughters, whose births are 
recorded. In 1755, Henry Houghton, of Leominster, trans- 
ferred to the children of Daniel Albert, land south of the 
house where Daniel Albert lived. It is likely that the land 
here fell originally to the Houghtons, and that Albert 
received his estate from his wives. We have seen him as a 
soldier in Lovewell's war, and the wars with Spain. He died 
January 28, 1769. His sons, Daniel and Frederick, who still 
lived in this vicinity, were in Amherst's expedition of the 
French and Indian War. The name of the former appears 
also on the rolls for the Rhode Island campaign in the 
Revolution. Frederick, of Boylston, bought the paternal 
estate of the other heirs of Daniel Albert in 1792. The 
brother, Daniel, had evidently managed this during the pre- 
ceding twenty-one years since his father's death. 

The Alberts were said to be of Dutch extraction. The 
district around the point where Clinton, Berlin and Boylston 
meet was in the latter portion of the eighteenth century 
familiarly called the Six Nations. The Wilders, and others, 
were English ; the Alberts, Dutch ; the Larkins, Irish. 
There were families of other nationalities which lived a little 
outside present Clinton limits : Andrew McWain, a Scotch- 
man ; Louis Conquerette and Hitty, Frenchmen, and John 
Canouse, a Hessian, a deserter from Burgoyne's army. 

On Chace Street, north of the Tucker-Chace estate, 
lived John Pollard. He was born in 1729. The date of his 
settlement here is unknown. He had eight sons and two 
daughters. He died May 10, 1814, at the age of eighty-five. 
His wife, Elizabeth, died at the age of seventy-eight, March 
4, 1816. Gardner Pollard, a comb-maker, followed his father 

10 



130 



THE COMMUNITY EAST OF THE RIVER. 



on the estate, erecting a new house near the old one in 1816 
or 181 7. He had three sons and seven daughters. Levi 
remained in this section, and built the Eli Sawyer house. 
We shall have occasion to notice him as a comb-maker. 

Mr. Pitts tells in his reminiscences of a very ancient 
house occupied by William Larkin, which stood a quarter of 
a mile east of the Pollards'. It had diamond -shaped window 
panes of mica set in lead. It is possible that this house was 
the original residence of one of the earlier Wilders. This 
William Larkin was one of the five sons of Philip Larkin, 
whose names appear so often in the rolls of colonial armies. 
He was born March 13, 1730. He served in three campaigns 
in the French and Indian War. He died January 4, 18 14, in 
the poor-house, his wife and daughters, who had done every- 
thing they could for him in his old age, having preceded 
•him to the grave. 

Josiah Coolidge, of Bolton, cordwainer, bought of David 
Wilder, of Leominster, April 30, 1779, a tract of twenty-five 
acres, north of John Pollard's. No buildings are mentioned 
in the deed. December i, 1797, Josiah Coolidge, then of 
Lancaster, sold to John Goss, of Sterling, the same twenty- 
five acres, with buildings, for three hundred and thirty-three 
dollars. It is evident that the buildings constructed during 
the ownership of Mr. Coolidge, had little value. The same 
year, John Goss bought eleven acres of the Pollards, and in 
181.5 he bought thirty-two acres more. This John Goss was 
the son of Joseph Goss, of Sterling, and a great-grandson of 
John Goss who settled in the northern part of the town in 
the first half of the eighteenth century. He married Mary 
W. Fuller. They had eight children. Three of them died 
in infancy, and one in young manhood. Mr. Frank Sawyer, 
who now occupies the old homestead, is a grandson of Mr. 
Goss, and Mrs. Eli Sawyer is a daughter. John Goss died 
March 24, 1843. 

Samuel Dollison, or Dorrison, bought ten acres of land 
of Gardner Pollard in 1814, where the house of Mrs. E. A. 



THE CHACES. 131 

Harris now stands, for three hundred dollars. In 18 17, he 
sold the same to Asahel Harris, with buildings, for four 
hundred dollars. Although Mr. DoUison has the reputation 
of having built the original Harris mansion, it is evident 
from the price paid for the property that there was no house 
of any considerable value on the land when it went out of 
his hands. 

Charles Chace of Bellingham, and William Jenks of 
VVrentham, bought the Tucker house and farm on what is 
now known as Chace Street, in the spring of 1798, of Major 
Merrick Rice. As Major Rice was one of the lawyers of 
Lancaster, and as the property had come into his hands 
from those of Benjamin Houghton and Josiah Coolidge, 
who had received it from Thomas Tucker two years before, 
it is probable that the estate had passed from the hands of 
the Tucker family on account of the hard times at the close 
of the eighteenth century. The house, like that of William 
Gould on the "Mill Road," and that of Elias Sawyer at 
what is now Lancaster Mills, had been begun, but through 
lack of funds had never been finished. It remained for Mr. 
Chace to complete it. It was a large, square, New England 
mansion, and may still be seen standing on its original site, 
between Chace Street and the Nashua. The farm contained 
one hundred and fifty acres, or thirty-five acres more than 
there had been in the Tucker farm. The price was two 
thousand dollars. Mr. Jenks relinquished his hold on the 
estate in 1802. 

Mr. Chace was not only a farmer, but also a tanner, 
currier and shoemaker. He bought the hides directly from 
the neighboring farmers whenever they slaughtered cattle. 
These hides he tanned in vats which were constructed to the 
north and south of the house. The tanning was wholly 
done by means of bark ; no chemicals were used. It was 
two years from the time when the hides were received, before 
the leather was ready to be made into boots and shoes. The 



132 



THE COMMUNITY EAST OF THE RIVER. 



currying and shoemaking were done in a shop of one story, 
six rods to the west of the house. This building was about 
eighteen by thirty feet. It was high studded, in order that 
the sides of leather might be hung up there to dry. On one 
side of the building, the drying and dressing were done ; on 
the other, was the shoemaker's shop. The work, which is 
now so specialized that it passes through scores of hands, 
was done by Mr. Chace and his apprentices alone. He had 
but little machinery to aid him, and what he did have was of 
the simplest kind. His two oldest sons probably learned 
the whole business of their father, but, in later life, Alanson 
confined himself to boot and shoe making, while Charles, 
Jr., became a tanner. 

Mr. Chace was approaching middle age when he came 
from Bellingham. He had lost his first wife, who had borne 
him two children. One of these children had died in 
childhood, the other grew up and married a man named 
Crowningshield. For his second wife, Mr. Chace had 
married Ruth Jenks. By her, he had four sons, Alanson, 
Charles, William J. and George Ide, and two daughters, 
Diana and Amia Ann. All of these, with the exception of 
William J., grew to maturity. The family life was that of 
the ideal New England home, as it existed in the early part 
of the century. There was great earnestness of religious 
belief, but no austerity. Mr. Chace belonged to the Rhode 
Island family of Chaces, and brought with him from his old 
home the Baptist belief. Although the members of the 
family attended public worship at the old church at Lan- 
caster Center, still they clung to their own form of faith and 
gathered their neighbors to worship with them, and thus be- 
came the originators of the Baptist organization in the 
town. When John Burdett settled in Clinton, they found in 
him an equally devoted co-worker. 

Something of the beautiful home life of the family can 
be surmised from this extract from a letter written by the 
youngest son to the mother on his thirty-sixth birthday. 



THE CHACES. 133 

"This day reminds me anew of the untold, unpaid and 
unpayable debt of gratitude which every son is under to a 
good mother, and for which the only return he can make 
is to show her that he is not insensible of it. Frequently, 
when not otherwise occupied, does my mind wander back 
to the days of my early childhood, when it was so sweet to 
pillow my head upon my mother's knee, when her lap was 
my home, the safe refuge to which I flew from every child- 
ish grief or trouble. And there are moments when my spirit, 
worn and soiled by the cares of life, has lost its freshness and 
its hope, in which I would fain be that little boy over again 
and again nestle in my mother's bosom and find it as secure 
a retreat from the trials of manhood as I did then from the 
trials of infancy." 

Mr. Charles Chace died about the middle of the present 
century at the age of nearly ninety. 

Alanson Chase, born October 22, 1795, and his brother 
Charles, probably with the aid of their father, bought in 
1818 of Seth Grout one acre of land, and of James Pitts one 
acre of land and one-twentieth of the water power at the dam 
now controlled by Lancaster Mills. They erected a small 
tannery between the spot where the present machine shop 
stands and the river. The old part of the house, so long 
known as No. i. Green Street, was built by Charles Chace, Jr. 
The shop, house, land and water right were sold to James 
Pitts in 1828. Charles Chace, Jr., removed to Still River 
and his connection with Clinton history ceased. 

Alanson still continued to live at the old homestead. As 
his father was already an old man, he took charge of the 
farm as well as continued in his business of shoe making. 
It is doubtful if he ever did much tanning after selling out 
to Mr. Pitts. In the later history of the district, we shall see 
him serving as a member of the school committee of Lan- 
caster ; as one of a committee of five representing Clinton- 
ville in the division of property when the town of Clinton 
vvas incorporated ; as a selectman of the new town ; as one 



134 



THE COMMUNITY EAST OF THE RIVER. 



of the organizers and most devoted supporters of the Bap- 
tist church in Clinton; as the builder of the Chace mansion 
formerly on Prescott Street but now moved to Cedar Street ; 
in general, we shall see him as one of the most prosperous, 
the most trusted, and the most public-spirited of our citi- 
zens. He married Maria Harris. His son, Charles H. 
Chace, born February 19, 1826, followed his father at the 
homestead, and his daughter, Maria Ann, married William 
H. Haskell, 

George Ide Chace, the younger son, gained a world-wide 
reputation. He received his elementary education in the 
school of the "South Woods District." When he was ten 
years old, he fell from the roof of a building and was severely 
injured. During the long period of confinement in the house, 
resulting from these injuries, he was instructed by his elder 
brother, and his ambition became aroused to seek a college 
education. When he recovered, he was sent to Lancaster 
Academy. Here he studied for some years with great en- 
thusiasm, and in 1827 was admitted to the sophomore class 
of Brown University. 

At the end of three years, he graduated as valedictorian 
of his class. He was for a year principal of a classical 
school in Waterville, Maine. In 183 1, he became a tutor in 
mathematics in Brown University. In 1833, he was made 
adjunct professor of mathematics and applied philosophy. 
In 1836, he became professor of chemistry, geology and 
physiology. This position he held for thirty-one years. He 
was, during this whole period, one of the leading teachers 
of the physical sciences in America. He received the de- 
grees of Ph. D. and LL. D. Besides teaching in college he 
was widely known as a lecturer. His services were often 
sought as a mining expert. He traveled in this capacity 
in Canada, Nova Scotia and Central America, as well as 
through the newly developed West. 

On the death of Rev. Barnas Sears in 1867, Prof. Chace 
served for six months as president of Brown University. 



THE CHACES. 135 

He would doubtless have been elected permanentl}' to the 
office of president, if it had not been necessary that the 
incumbent should be a clergyman. At this time, he became 
instructor in metaphysics and ethics, and afterwards served 
for five years as professor in these branches. 

He had great ability as a teacher, as all those who came 
in contact with him testified. Many of the leading men of 
the country trace to his influence much that has been most 
noble in their lives. His executive power was no less marked. 
Whatever he undertook was done in a masterly way. Presi- 
dent Andrews says of him : " Professor Chace had the 
keenest analytical power of any thinker whom I have ever 
heard discourse * * * and he joined with this a hardly less 
remarkable faculty for generalization." 

In 1872, he resigned his professorship and travelled in the 
Old World. After a year and a half of rest, he returned to 
his home in Providence, and during the remainder of his life 
devoted himself to the interests of his city and state. His 
chief work was as chairman of the Rhode Island State Board 
of Charities and Corrections. His work in this connection 
attracted the attention of social reformers throughout the 
world. His published works form but a small part of his 
productions which were worthy to be preserved, but, few as 
they are, they will be sufficient to give him a high place 
among scholars for all time. A volume of his collected 
essays and lectures, with a biography, was published in 1886. 
He died April 29, 1885, i" Providence, Rhode Island. He 
may be considered the most scholarly man that this locality 
has ever produced. 

As the records of School District No. 11 have not been 
preserved, tradition and human memory are the only sources 
of information on this topic. It happens, however, that the 
son of the first teacher in the South Woods school-house 
told ere he died the story of the school as it lived in his 
memory. This account of Frederick W. Wilder's is reported 



136 THE COMMUNITY EAST OF THE RIVER. 

in nearly the same words as it appeared in the Courant of 
September 5, 1885, and as it was afterward told to the author 
b}' the venerable man. 

Before a school-house was built, the pupils were accus- 
tomed to gather for instruction during the winter at certain 
private houses. In the northern part of the district, the 
house of Charles Chase was the general place of meeting. 
On alternate winters, the school was kept in the southern 
part at the Wilder house, where Daniel Carville's house now 
stands. In 1809, a little school house was erected a short 
distance west of the Fuller-Carruth house, opposite the Mc- 
Lean house of more recent date. It was on the western side 
of the road and faced toward the south. There was no hall 
or entry, but the outer door opened upon the school room. 
The outside garments hung upon the wall. The building 
was heated by a stove near the center of the room. The 
writing desks stood on three sides, and the benches for them 
stood a little out from the wall so as to allow a passage-way. 
In front of the writing desks, were the seats of the smaller 
pupils. The master's desk was at first in the northeastern 
corner. In 1826, short seats were put in instead of long 
benches and the master's desk was moved to the eastern 
side. The scholars stood for recitation on the south and 
west of the room in front of the desks. When the house 
was no longer needed for school purposes, it was sold to 
Alanson Chace. He moved it to the Acre. Here, in 1885, 
it was "still in existence as the L of a house owned by Mr. 
Greenwood and occupied by Martin Kittredge." This school 
was always noted for its earnest study, and some went forth 
from it, such as Roscoe G. Greene and George Ide Chace, who 
exerted a powerful influence in the world. 

The list of male teachers in this house was as follows: 
" First, Ebenezer Wilder, who was succeeded by Dr. John 
Andrews of Boylston ; then, Asa Sawyer, who died in Ber- 
lin ; next, Walter Willard, Baxter Wood, Titus Wilder and 
Silas Thurston, all of whom died in Lancaster ; Nathaniel 



SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. n. I37 

Longley died in Bolton ; John Gamble in Sutton ; Major 
Rufus Hastings died recently in Westboro ; Rev. N. Briggs, 
Pelham ; Artemas Barnes, died a few years ago in Worces- 
ter ; James Davenport, died in Mississippi; Thomas VV. Val- 
entine of Northboro, died recently in Brooklyn, N. Y.; San- 
ford Kendall, now living in Worcester; Prof. George I. 
Chace, recently died in Providence ; Rufus Wilder, now liv- 
ing in Schu}-lkill Haven, Pa.; Jotham Holt, died in Keene, 
N. H.; Solon Carter, died in Lancaster; Samuel I. Rice, 
resides in Northboro ; Augustus Whipple, killed by the 
blowing up of a boiler on a steamboat in New York harbor ; 
Rev. Andrew Bigelow, D. D., recently deceased in South- 
boro ; Josiah Pierce, died in W^est Bo)'lston ; Caleb Maynard, 
died in Northboro, and Charles Pollard, now residing in 
Lynn. 

"The list of female teachers includes Abigail F)'fe, died 
in Berlin; Nanc}' (Pierce) Dorrison, now living in Clinton; 
Abigail (Townsend) Whitney, died in Harvard ; Abigail 
Walden, died in Richmond, N. H.; Achsah (Houghton) 
Moore, died in Sterling ; Sail}' (or Luc}') Stearns, died in 
Lancaster; Diana Chace, died in Harvard; Luc}' Pollard, 
now living in Dorchester; Elizabeth (Carter) Whittenden, 
died in Cambridgeport ; Susan (Coffin) Houghton of Bolton ; 
Lucena (Wilder) Humphre}', lives in Fort Wayne, Ind; 
Sophia Locke of Lancaster; Emmeline (Bailey) Breck, 
died in Sterling ; Francena Priest, if living, in Lowell ; Eliza- 
beth Wilder, wife of Dr. Lee, lives in Barre. 

" Of those who went to school in this old house, who sub- 
sequently became teachers, we have the following : Sarah 
(Goss) Sawyer, daughter of John Goss; Lucy Pollard; 
Emily (Pollard) Ladd ; Anna Gertrude (Pollard) Adams; 
Mary (Pollard) Nourse — all daughters of Gardner Pollard. 
George L, Diana, and Amia Ann Chace — children of 
Charles Chace ; Edward Fuller, if living, now in Washing- 
ton, and Mar}' Ann Fuller — children of Edward Fuller ; 
Roscoe G. Greene, of Robert Hudson's famil}', afterwards 



138 THE COMMUNITY EAST OF THE RIVER. 

secretary of the commonwealth of Maine, etc.; John, Levi 
and Sally Wilder — all now deceased — children of Dr. John 
Wilder ; Rebecca and Sarah, daughters of Abel Wilder, and 
probably not living, although our informant is not positive ; 
Rufus A., Lucena, Elizabeth, Clara, Anna and Kate — all liv- 
ing excepting Anna — and all children of Ebenezer Wilder." 

In addition to the families already noted, there were 
several others which lived for short periods east of the 
river, within present Clinton limits. In 1830, for instance, 
we find four families there which we have passed without 
notice. M. Howe, a hired man, lived in a little house by 
that of Titus Wilder, Jr. This house was still standing near 
the Baxter Wood's place after the incorporation of Clinton. 
A. Barnes lived near Titus Wilder, Sr., whose home was on 
the site of the Jonas E. Howe place. Gardner Jacobs, a 
farmer who had a large family, lived between Charles Chace 
and Stephen Sargent. Thomas Hildreth, a famous wood- 
chopper and a pressman at the comb-shop of Gardner Pollard, 
lived in the little house on the east side of the road between 
Gardner Pollard's and Charles Chace's. In this year, there 
were in all eighteen households east of the river, with a 
population approximating one hundred souls. 



CHAPTER IX. 



THE FIRST COTTON MILL. 



The beginning of the present century marks a new era 
in the history of this section. The saw and grist-mills, 
which had already ceased to be of prime importance, soon 
yielded their water rights to more profitable industries. The 
farms, although many of them were still carried on with 
profit, became less and less the chief means of support to 
the people. From this time on, various forms of manu- 
facturing engaged the attention of the community more and 
more, until it became appropriately known as the Factory 
Village. Even the farmers added to the profits of their 
farms by filling their spare hours with manufacturing, and by 
sending their children into the shops and mills. 

The two leading forms of manufacturing industry which 
first began to be developed were the making of combs and 
textile fabrics. The former had a slight priority in time of 
starting, but was of comparatively slow growth, while the 
latter, as soon as it did begin, gave employment to consider- 
able numbers. The comb-making was at first carried on in 
many little shops and in the sheds of the farmers, while the 
making of cotton goods, as it required more costly 
machinery, was necessarily more centralized. 

Comb-making, although it held for half a century a most 
important place among the industries of this region, in 
time, like the saw and grist-mills of the earlier period, was 
destined to disappear. The making of textile fabrics, on 



140 



THE FIRST COTTON MILL. 



the other hand, although at first it scarcely equalled the 
comb-making in the number of hands employed, had a 
phenomenal development in the forties, and finally became 
in its various branches and collateral forms of labor the main 
source of the prosperity of the community. 

In 1805, the saw-mill and grist-mill of the Prescotts', 
together with adjoining lands and a house to the west of the 
mills, all of which had in 1793 and 1795 fallen into the 
hands of John Sprague, the lawyer, were sold by his son, 
Samuel John Sprague, to Benajah Brigham, mason, of 
Boston, for one thousand six hundred and fifty dollars. In 
the following year, the mills were sold to Thomas Willard 
Lyon, and the consideration named was one thousand 
dollars. In 1809, Lyon bought small lots of land from 
Ebenezer Allen and Nathaniel Low. On August 18, 1809, 
the mills and various lots of land were sold to Poignand & 
Plant by Lyon for one thousand three hundred dollars. 
Within the next few years, Poignand & Plant bought 
additional pieces of land from John Prescott, Jonas Lane, 
Jeremiah Ballard, Robert Phelps, Esek Pitts, Stephen Sar- 
gent and Nathan Burdett. What was left of the Prescott 
estate, as we have already seen, came into their possession 
from the administrator in 1814. They also bought of 
Ezekiel Rice and the heirs of Moses Sawyer, their rights in 
a ditch eight feet in width from Sandy Pond to the water 
course. This ditch had been dug by one of the earlier 
Prescotts, probably the pioneer, for conveying water from 
Sandy Pond to Prescott's Mills. The purchase of these 
mills by Poignand & Plant was the most important event 
that had happened in the history of this district since the 
coming of John Prescott, ist, in 1653. 

Each of the partners was of foreign descent. David 
Poignand, the elder of the two, was born on the island 
of Jersey, January 12, 1759. His ancestors were Hugue- 
nots, who had filed to this island from Poitou, France, to 




David PoigtvAnd. 



SAMUEL PLANT. 



141 



avoid persecution. We are told that his mother, Mary 
Magdelene Royel, who was born in 1716, was driven from 
her estate by the dragoons of Louis XIV. Having disguised 
herself as a fisherman's wife, she fled to the Isle of Jersey in 
an open boat. The young David learned the trade of a 
jeweller and also that of a cabinet-maker. He came to 
America, and settled in Boston. Here, he became a hard- 
ware merchant, and is said to have made and lost a fortune 
in that business. He still had enough capital left to help 
purchase the mills, and build and equip the new factory. 
On account of his age, he did not take a very active part in 
manufacturing beyond attending to the shipping of the 
goods. He is spoken of by one who knew him, as "a fine 
old gentleman, dapper and urbane." He wore a queue, and 
carried a gold-headed cane. He was distinctly French in 
many of his characteristics, and belonged to the Old 
Regime. His wife, Delicia Amiraux Poignand, was also a 
native of the Isle of Jersey, born December 17, 1764. She 
is spoken of as one of the sweetest of women, full of charity 
and good works. 

The other partner, Samuel Plant, who was the book- 
keeper and active manager of the concern, was a son-in-law 
of David Poignand. His ancestors belonged in Bosley, 
County Palatine of Chester, England. He acted as agent in 
this country for the Leeds Cloth Manufacturers for the sale 
of woolens. His account books show that his remittances 
for goods sold were made to his uncle, Samuel Hague, and 
that his annual salary was £120. It is said, that he crossed 
the Atlantic five times, and that his business took him as far 
south as Charleston. The first authentic information which 
we have of him is from an old account book, kept in his own 
handwriting. As this was kept with great exactness from 
April 6, 1803, to 1808, we are able to glean from it some idea 
of his history, his personal habits and his dress. We can 
even trace his courtship from its first inception. 

During these years, he did not leave Boston for any great 



142 THE FIRST COTTON MILL. 

length of time. The amount of sales during the last two 
years was much less than during the first two. He was 
naturalized July i8, 1804. He bought "segars" and snuff 
frequently. He was a sportsman. His expenditures for 
dress were such that he must have been very nice in his 
appearance. He was a reader and buyer of books. He 
made a close study of French. He was, perhaps, influenced 
in this by his relations with Delicia M. Poignand, for her 
family were even more familiar with French than with 
English. The first mention of her, made in his account 
books, is on February 8, 1806, when he took her and her 
friend. Miss Frances Bazin, to the theatre. It cost him five 
dollars. It is evident that he did not, at this time, wish to 
show too particular attention to either of these young ladies, 
for he gave Gray's and Goldsmith's Poems to Miss Bazin, and 
the Vicar of Wakefield to "D. M. P." January 23, 1807, he 
took the two again to the theatre, and again gave each of 
them a book. This time Miss "D. M. P." received a volume 
on "Solitude." March 13, he takes them to the theatre once 
more. Miss Bazin is no more spoken of, and the only direct 
allusion to D. M. P. is the record of giving her a volume of 
poems. Through the summer of this year, "a horse and 
chaise" are hired with suspicious frequency. Perhaps, it 
was only for business purposes. In 1808, he went to Eng- 
land, leaving Boston October 26, and arriving in London 
just one month later. His passage cost him one hundred 
and fifty-five dollars, besides the stores and wines, which 
came to thirty-five more. Here the record ceases. 

It is probable that he went to England with the definite 
purpose of closing up his old business and preparing for 
manufacturing for himself. It has been said that he made a 
careful study of machinery while abroad, and that he 
brought back with him drawings of many mechanical in- 
ventions that he thought might prove useful. He is even 
accused of having smuggled in parts of the machines them- 
selves. He was naturally a mechanical genius, and in later 



SAMUEL PLANT. 



143 



years invented a picker, with two beaters, for cleansing 
cotton. He was also the first to introduce an improved 
method of spinning by circular spindle boxes. 

He must have returned from England by spring, for we 
find him riding about the country in the summer with Mr. 
Poignand, to inspect the water privileges near Boston. They 
were at first attracted by one near Waltham, but the price 
was too high. At last, the old Prescott Mills in Lancaster 
were brought to their notice. The water power seemed 
adapted for their purpose, and the property could be bought 
at a low price. The bargain was closed, and they became 
proprietors. Mr. Plant married "D. M. P." during the same 
year in which he came to Lancaster. 

James Pitts has given us a picture of this leader in cotton 
manufacturing in this section, which is worthy of preser- 
vation: ''Mr. Plant was one of the most methodical men I 
ever knew; he was superlatively precise in all his affairs on 
the farm and in and about the factory ; and when the 
property was sold, not a bruise or a mar or mark of abuse 
was to be seen on any of their property, whether in doors or 
out, except in the natural wear and tear, although it had 
been in constant use over thirty years ; he was also equally 
precise in his personal appearance ; his dress was never 
guady or flash}-, but plain and good and scrupulously neat ; 
he was one of those men to whom dirt never adheres ; he 
was also always at home, and seldom, if ever, went away 
from his business; although the company owned good 
horses and carriages, he very seldom rode, out except to 
church. Mr. Plant was a man of books ; although limited 
in number of branches, he was quite proficient in the 
sciences, and very correct ; he had a fine library, a profusion 
of maps, globes, a theodolite and a beautiful telescope for 
the amusement and benefit of himself and his famil}-." 

As Mr. Poignand displayed many traits of the typical 
Frenchman, so Mr. Plant was a typical PZnglishman. He 
was tenacious of his rights, and firm almost to stubbornness. 



144 



THE FIRST COTTON MILL. 



He was determined that the cotton factory should be the 
center of the community to which his partner and he should 
stand in a sort of paternal relation. For this reason he 
bitterly opposed the immigration of people from Lancaster 
Center not connected with the factory. To prevent their 
coming, it is said, that he would buy up beforehand the 
houses and lands which he had heard they were proposing to 
occupy. He was a man fitted by nature and disposition to 
make his stamp on the community, which, during his stay, 
was known as Factory Village. 

There was a third man ; one employed by the firm who 
was, perhaps, as important an element as either of the part- 
ners in the history of the Factory Village. This was Captain 
Thomas Willard Lyon, whom we have already noticed as 
making the original purchase. It is probable that it was 
largely through his influence and from the hope of obtaining 
his assistance in their projected enterprise that Poignand & 
Plant entered upon the daring scheme of starting a cotton 
factory, without machinery and without experienced help, to 
run in competition with the established factories of England. 
It was surely largely due to his skill as a machinist that their 
undertaking met with success, for from the drawings and 
verbal descriptions of Mr. Plant, aided by his own great in- 
genuity, he constructed a complete outfit of machinery for 
the mill, surpassing in many respects the outfits of the 
English mills. This was done in spite of the apparently 
unconquerable difficulty of obtaining desired castings. 

Although Captain Lyon has received credit for no great 
inventions, yet he made many ingenious improvements in 
machinery worthy of being patented. For instance, it is 
said that he first invented machinery for making a cop. 
Only a few years since, at the mill on Water Street, they 
were using some machinery which was built by him seventy 
years before. It seems possible, in the light of his later life, 
that Captain Lyon was more generous than shrewd, and 
that, while he labored, others enjoyed the fruit of his labors. 



CONSTRUCTION. 



145 



In 181 2, he bound himself by a pledge under a forfeit of 
three thousand dollars not to reveal the secrets of the 
machinery which he had made. 

Such were the men whose influence was to be so potent 
for the next score of years in the life of District No. 10, and 
whose labors furnished the opportunity which called their 
still more able successors hither. 

As the town of Lancaster had given Prescott certain 
privileges to encourage him to set up his saw and grist-mill 
on this stream in 1653, so now in this second great enter- 
prise, started at the same point, they offered to Poignand & 
Plant a partial release from taxation for a time, if they 
would proceed with their work. 

The plans of the partners were well laid before the 
property was purchased, for we find them at once entering 
upon the work of construction. December 13, i8og, they 
paid Mr. Newton eleven dollars and forty-six cents, for pull- 
ing down and removing the old grist-mill. They first built a 
work-shop and blacksmith-shop for the construction of 
machinery. Calvin Winter received his pay for shingling 
this building, January 22, 1810. On the i8th of the same 
month, Newton received nine dollars for pulling down the 
saw-mill. May i, 1810, Joseph and Peter Kendall signed a 
contract for building a brick mill, fifty-seven feet by thirty- 
eight and a half feet, three stories in height. The structure 
built under this contract, still forms the western end of the 
Yarn Mill on Water Street. 

The building of this mill at once aroused new activity in 
the whole community and gave employment to many of the 
farmers. The stone for the mill and dam was furnished 
by Joseph Rice, Gardner Pollard, Charles Chace, Stephen 
and Titus Wilder, Nathaniel Low, and others ; the lumber 
came from Peter and Ezra Sawyer, Joseph Rice and Ebene- 
zer Wilder. It has been said that Peter Sawyer furnished 
some of the brick from a new kiln which he had opened on 
U 



146 THE FIRST COTTON MILL. 

his farm, but most of them surely came from Gates and 
Johnson, who lived outside present Clinton limits. Mean- 
while the machinery was being prepared as rapidly as cir- 
cumstances permitted and such progress was made that the 
mill was at work before the War of 18 12 fairly began. 

Companies for the spinning of cotton by hand had been 
organized in Philadelphia in 1775, and, in 1780, a similar com- 
pany was organized in Worcester, but neither of these were 
run upon the factory system. In 1786, some rude machines 
for cotton spinning had been set at work in East Bridge- 
water, and others in 1787, at Beverly. Moses Brown had 
made some attempts at cotton spinning previous to 1790, 
but had succeeded poorly. During that year, at his invita- 
tion, Samuel Slater visited Pawtucket. In December of the 
same year. Slater set into operation the first successful cot- 
ton machinery in America. Several mills were erected for 
spinning cotton in Rhode Island during the next twenty 
years, but the enterprise of Poignand & Plant was the first 
successful one of the kind, even for cotton spinning, in Mas- 
sachusetts. 

The American Cyclopedia states that a factory built by 
Francis C. Lovell and others in Waltham, Massachusetts, in 
1813 was "the first in the world that combined all the pro- 
cesses necessary for converting the raw cotton into finished 
cloth." The History of Waltham states: "The first record of 
its work is on the books of this company under the date of 
February 2, 1816, at which time the entry was made of one 
thousand two hundred and forty-two yards, 4-4, or thirty- 
six inches wide cotton. There is no doubt that this entry 
records the date of the first manufacture of cotton cloth in 
America, where all operations were performed under one 
roof." But cotton cloth and ginghams were made here in 
Factory Village under one roof and by the factory system 
in 1813. Records of sales and samples of the goods have 
been preserved. There seems to be no doubt that the mill 



ROBERT PHELPS. 



147 



of Poignand & Plant may justly assert its claim to the 
priority falsely assigned to the VValtham factory. Other 
factories, like those of Slater, had spun by power a little be- 
fore that of Poignand & Plant. Other individuals and 
firms had produced finished cloths without the factory sys- 
tem, or with only a partial development of it, but the old 
mill now standing on Water Street was probably the first 
building in the world in which cotton cloth and ginghams 
were entirely made under the factory system. 

The war of 1812, with the accompanying embargo, gave 
very great advantage to the firm, for, since the importation 
of goods was stopped and the preparation for home produc- 
tion was limited, demand was greatly in excess of supply 
and prices doubled. The two products of the factory were 
ginghams and sheetings. In 181 3, the former brought from 
forty to fifty cents per yard, the latter, three-fourths of a }'ard 
wide, was sold, according to the quality, at from thirty to 
forty-five cents per yard. As the war went on, these prices, 
high though they seem, grew higher and higher, giving 
greater and greater profits to the manufacturer. 

The accounts show that a considerable portion of the 
goods were manufactured on small orders directly from the 
consumers. The Shaker community was among the heavi- 
est buyers of this kind. To many of the entries, samples of 
the goods are attached. These samples are considerably 
coarser in quality than those made at the Lancaster Mills 
to-day. 

From the beginning, Robert Phelps was the overseer of 
the mill, and, at first, he is the only male whose name ap- 
pears on the pay-roll. This Robert Phelps was in 1812 
already a man of forty-two. He was the son of Robert and 
Rachel Phelps. In 1794, he had married Polly Todd. They 
are recorded to have had five children. April i, 1814, he 
bought of Nathan Burdett his house and land on North 
Mam Street. Here, he lived for many years. He died June 
9, 1854. 



148 THE FIRST COTTON MILL. 

It was some years before there were more than a dozen 
names of females on the pay-roll at any one time, and these 
names changed frequently.* The men and boys at work in- 
side the mill during the same years were Amos Darling, 
Charles Whipple, James Carroll and boy, John Low, Blake 
Mullens and P. Gallie. An examination of the records of 
Lancaster shows that very few of the females were born 
within the limits of the town, and doubtless almost all of 
them came hither for the special purpose of mill work. Of 
the males, the name of John Low is the only one familiar to 
our citizens. These workers, although they came from out 
of town, must have been of Yankee birth. Later in the his- 
tory of the mills, many are found working, who were born 
in the district. 

The house on North Main Street which Poignand & 
Plant bought of Stephen Sargent in 1813 was made over into 
a boarding house. In later years, it became known as the 
"Tavern," and is now used as W. A. Fuller's lumber ofifice. 
Mr. Pitts says that Mr. Plant lived in one end of this house 
until 1824. Willard A. Howe was the keeper of this house. 
In 1818, he was in Marlboro, and Calvin Howe had charge. 
Willard A. was back again in 1819. At this time, he made a 
contract to give board, washing and lodging for one dollar 
and sixteen cents a week. In 1827, when Isaac Whitney of 
Harvard agreed to take charge of the boarding-house, the 

*NAMES TAKEN FROM THE PAY-ROLL FROM 1812-1814. 

Mary Holden. Sally Rugg. Abigail Thompson. 

Sarah Holden. Sally Hinds. Maria Houghton. 

Sally Richardson. Mary Brooks. Sally Haskell. 

Abigail McBride. Elizabeth Brooks. Lucinda Woods. 

Sarah McBride. Sally Ellenwood. Sally Newhall. 

Abigail Holman. Mary Pierce. Sally Wilder. 

Mary Parker. Mary Goodridge. Rhoda Tower. 

Nancy Fife. Susan Kingman. Charlotte Moor. 

Ann Parker. Eunice Kingman. Eliza Thompson, 
Polly Norcross. 



METHOD OF HIRING WORKERS. 149 

rate per week was fixed at one dollar and eight cents. 
There were twelve beds in the building. Among the regu- 
lations, we find: "As a light will be lighted every night and 
placed in a lanthorn, it is expected that no boarder will take 
a light into the chambers." On Sunday, if not at public wor- 
ship, the boarders " will keep within doors and improve their 
time in reading, writing and other employment." In 1818, 
William Toombs agreed to keep a men's boarding-house, 
charging two dollars a week for board and washing. Rum 
produced a "Sunday riot," and after that no more was sold 
at the store from which the workmen were supplied, and no 
one was employed in the mill who habitually used it. 

The method of hiring workers and the wages paid can 
be understood from the following case in 181 5. A whole 
family agreed to come together on these terms: The house 
rent was to be from twenty to thirty dollars per year, and 
cut wood was to be furnished at two dollars a cord; the 
man was to receive five dollars per week; his son, sixteen 
years old, two; his daughter of thirteen, one and a half; his 
daughter of tw^elve, one and a quarter; his son of ten, eighty 
cents; his sister, two dollars and one third; her son of thir- 
teen, one and a half; her daughter of eight, seventy-five cents. 
There had at this time been little agitation in regard to the 
hours of labor and the employment of children. It is prob- 
able that this child of eight spent twelve hours a day in the 
factory six days in the week. In the twenties, when the 
braiding of straw became an established industry in this 
section, and work was given out to the women and girls to 
do at home, it became almost impossible to get help from 
the families near the mills, and the proprietors were obliged 
to return to their earlier methods and get help from a dis- 
tance, even sending agents to New Hampshire and Vermont 
to hunt up girls. Sometimes, much bitterness of feeling 
came from hiring help away from other mills. It is said 
that the first family of Irish birth hired to work in the mill 
was named Quinn. They lived in a building known as the 
" Laundry," a little south of the girls' boarding-house. 



150 THE FIRST COTTON MILL. 

Mr. Poignand settled in a small house on North Main 
Street, which stood on the location now occupied by Wal- 
cott's Block. When this block was built the old house was 
moved a few rods east from Main Street to the place where 
it now stands. To-day, the building looks small and poor 
enough, but Mr. Poignand lived there for many years, and 
there he entertained his aristocratic friends from Boston. 
It has been claimed that the library belonging to him and 
Mr. Plant jointly, was the largest at that time in any private 
house in the state, containing as it did from two to three 
thousand volumes. These works were in both English and 
French. Mr. Plant also lived in the house, for a time. 

From this house, a daughter of Mr. Poignand, Louisa 
Elizabeth, was married February 13, 1814, to Colonel Thomas 
Aspinwall. The Rev. Nathaniel Thayer performed the cere- 
mony. The bride's dress was made of cloth woven in the 
factory. This Thomas Aspinwall was the son of Dr. William 
Aspinwall of Brookline, who was chiefly instrumental in in- 
troducing vaccination into the country. Thomas was born 
in 1786. He graduated from Harvard in 1804. He then 
studied law and engaged in his profession. His intentions 
of marriage with Miss Poignand were published June 16, 
181 1, but the war of 1812 delayed their union. At first, he 
was major in the 9th U. S. Infantry. He received the brevet 
of lieutenant-colonel for bravery at Sackett's Harbor. At 
Fort Erie, he lost an arm and received the brevet of colonel 
for his conduct. The year after his marriage. Colonel As- 
pinwall was appointed U. S. Consul to London by President 
Madison, and held that office for thirty-eight years. We 
shall see him and others of his father's family as prominent 
stock holders in the later history of the factory. 

The water supply at the mill was somewhat irregular on 
account of the dam at Rice's privilege. This was a source 
of great annoyance to the partners. The high price received 
for goods seemed to justify an increase in business. The 



ENLARGEMENT. 151 

partners therefore resolved to buy out Rice and build a new 
mill. Capital was lacking and they sought to obtain it by 
admitting a new member to the firm. The man secured was 
David Greenough, a Boston merchant. The share of Poig- 
nand in the firm was eight thousand seven hundred and ten 
dollars and fourteen cents ; of Plant, two thousand four hun- 
dred and twenty dollars and sixty-eight cents ; of Greenough 
five thousand five hundred and sixty-five dollars and forty- 
one cents, half as much as the other two together. Green- 
ough was to be the selling agent, while the others kept to 
their previous work at the factory. Measures were taken 
for starting the new building, and the sum of ten thousand 
dollars was borrowed on the note of the firm. The work 
must have progressed rather slowl>, for the mill was not 
completed until 1819. Many improvements, however, were 
made at the old mill in connection with building the new 
one, for instance, Lyon made two water wheels at the same 
time, one twenty-five feet in diameter, and another, eighteen, 
which were evidently for the two mills. The mill at the 
" upper privilege " when finished was seventy six feet long 
by forty wide. It had " a porch " sixteen feet long. It was 
two stories high. It was built, with the exception of the 
basement, of wood. The lower story held thirty two looms, 
while the second story was devoted to miscellaneous machin- 
ery. The building, with its machinery, was valued at nine 
thousand dollars. This building in later times was known 
as the "Old Red Mill," and remained until recent years in 
the yard of the worsted mill of the Bigelow Carpet Company. 
The Brick Mill, after the changes made in it, was valued, 
with the machinery, at sixteen thousand dollars. It con- 
tained eight hundred and ninety- six spindles. The dam was 
raised a little and the fall was reckoned as sixty-two feet in 
height. Both mills were heated by stove-like furnaces and 
lighted by lamps. There was also a machine shop, sixty-one 
feet long by twenty, valued at twenty-two hundred and ten 
dollars. This was fifty-three feet from the northeast cor- 



152 THE FIRST COTTON MILL. 

ner of this factory. In 1829, there were ten other houses 
belonging to the concern, together valued at about ten 
thousand dollars. The most important of these was the brick 
dwelling-house now known as the Parker house, which was 
built in 1823-4 for Mr. Plant. It was at that time considered 
the finest house in town, and cost three thousand dollars. 

The factories for the years during which we have a record 
produced a little over two hundred thousand yards of cloth 
annually. When peace was declared, December 24, 1814, 
the excessive profits ceased. The market was after a short 
time again supplied with foreign goods, which were cheaper 
than could be produced here. The mills had begun to ex- 
pand at the wrong time, at the flood tide of profit, just before 
the ebb. Although the farmers rejoiced that the war was 
over, and that they could once more exchange their crops 
for foreign goods, the manufacturers, who had started their 
factories because commerce had ceased, began to feel that 
their only salvation was in a protective tariff. For this, they 
had to wait. 

Meanwhile, David Greenough became involved in the 
general ruin of the class to which he belonged. June 23, 
1819, a dun came to Poignand & Plant from Israel Thorn 
dike. He held, through David Greenough, the note of 
Poignand & Plant for the ten thousand dollars before men- 
tioned, secured by a mortgage on the factory. No interest 
had been paid for a year and a half, and Mr. Thorndike 
stated that the matter must be straightened out at once. 
Bankruptcy seemed inevitable, as the firm had no ready 
money, but parties were found who were willing to take up 
Greenough's relations with the mill after he had assigned. 
At the request of John H. Bradford and Seth Knowles, 
made in June, 1819, Poignand & Plant forwarded a state- 
ment of their affairs.* 

*ASSETS, JUNE, 1819. 

Value of property when D. G. became partner $14,538 62 

Additions since 29,729 36 



FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES. 153 

In the light of transactions that took place at a later date, 
it is evident that the mills were much less valuable than the 
partners believed. The parties in Boston, however, were 
evidentl}' satisfied with this statement, for after due investi- 
gation, they, in connection with Benjamin Rich, agreed 
December 28, i8ig, to furnish Poignand & Plant with 
fifteen thousand dollars as the}' should need it, on certain 
conditions. This loan was preliminary to a partnership 
which was formed February 18, 1820. Each of the new part- 
ners was to pay in five thousand two hundred and eighty-four 
dollars and twenty-one cents. David Poignand and Samuel 
Plant were each to have seven thousand nine hundred and 
twenty-six dollars and and thirty-one cents in the firm. The 
total value was thus thirty-one thousand seven hundred and 
five dollars and twenty-five cents. 

Debts due firm, cotton, etc., on hand \ 3'73i iQ 

( 743 II 
Pd. and contracted for new factory and machinery I9>930 00 

$68,672 28 

LIABILITIES. 

To partners D. G $5,568 41 

D. P 8,352 62 

S. P 2,784 20 

$16,705 23 

Note to Israel Thorndike $10,000 00 

Interest 600 00 

D. G.'s protests 945 64 

Debts due 8,474 28 

Bal. on D. G.'s book and notes 4.187 37 

$24,207 29 

$40,912 52 
New debts becoming due at new factory I5>578 I7 

$56,490 69 
Balance in our favor 12,181 59 

$68,672 28 



154 THE FIRST COTTON MILL. 

By an act* passed by the Massachusetts Legislature, 
January 27, 1821, these five men, Isaac Bangs acting as 
attorney for John H. Bradford, were incorporated for the 
purpose of carrying on the manufacture of cotton in the 
town of Lancaster, under the title of the Lancaster Cotton 
Manufacturing Company. This is the first of the many 
articles of incorporation which have affected the history of 
this community. 

The capital stock was fixed at seventy-two thousand 
dollars, and divided into thirty-six shares of two thousand 
dollars, Poignand and Plant were to have six shares each. An 
agreement was made that no stock should be sold without 
being first offered to other partners. There were notes 
against the concern at this time for twenty-two thousand 
dollars. David Poignand was made president. He was to 
give his whole time to the business, and to be allowed rent 
and "reasonable maintenance," together with two per cent, 
of all dividends. Samuel Plant was made clerk and man- 
ager. He was to have a salary of five hundred dollars, and 
the support of himself and family. Isaac Bangs, as repre- 
senting J. H. Bradford, was made treasurer and selling 
agent, and was to receive two and one-half per cent, on the 

*AN ACT TO INCORPORATE THE LANCASTER COTTON MANUFACTURING 

COMPANY. 

'Section I. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 
in General Court Assembled and by the authority of the same ; that 
David Poignand, Samuel Plant, Benjamin Rich, Isaac Bangs and Seth 
Knowles together with such others as may hereafter associate with them 
or their successors, Be and are hereby made a Corporation by the name 
of the Lancaster Cotton Manufacturing Company for the purpose of 
manufacturing cotton in the Town of Lancaster in the County of 
Worcester, and for that purpose shall have all the powers and privileges 
and be subject to all the duties and requirements contained in an act 
passed the third day of March in the year of our Lord one thousand 
eight hundred and nine, entitled, "An Act defining the General powers 
and duties of manufacturing corporations." Section second fixed the 
real estate not to exceed $30,000, and personal, not to exceed $70,000. 



LANCASTER COTTON MANUFACTURING CO. 155 

proceeds. Seth Knowles and Benjamin Rich, together with 
the other three, were directors. A dividend of seventeen 
per cent, was declared the first year. It is doubtful if it was 
earned. 

September 2, Lewis Tappan, who was anxious to become 
selling agent for the corporation, purchased the six shares 
of Rich, and thus became possessed of a one-sixth interest. 
Part of these shares went to Thomas Aspinwall. Benjamin 
Pickman bought out Bradford, in the same month, and Seth 
Knowles, October 4th, the same year. So that Benjamin 
Pickman, or he and his son, Benjamin T. Pickman, were' 
then possessed of a one-third interest, twelve shares. Mr. 
Tappan, as he entered upon his work as selling agent, found 
that "our goods are unquestionably superior to any others in 
this country." He was anxious to increase the business, and 
urged that T. W. Lyon's place be bought in order that the 
dam might be raised. On the 19th of May, 1823, a deed of 
the estate was received. Lyon then, or shortly after, moved 
to Northboro, where he was in the machine business for 
twenty years or more. 

In 1824, much complaint was made of the quality of the 
goods, and the sales were slow even at a greatly reduced 
price. The trouble came from the inexperience of Mr. 
Tappan in buying cotton. September 2, 1824, Benjamin T. 
Pickham informed Poignand & Plant that he had purchased 
the shares of his father, and that he, as owner of twelve 
shares, was dissatisfied with the selling agent, Mr. Tappan. 
He said the last dividend paid was not earned, and the com- 
pany was running behind hand. The pressure brought to 
bear upon Mr. Tappan by the directors caused him to resign 
in October, 1824, and Benjamin T. Pickman became treasurer 
and selling agent. Notwithstanding a loss by fire of over 
one thousand dollars during this year, the profits of the con- 
cern were such that they could fairly pay a dividend of six 
thousand dollars for 1825. The tariff of 1824 doubtless 
helped in this direction. In 1827, the dam gave way, so that 



156 THE FIRST COTTON MILL. 

work was stopped for some months. The tariff bill of 1828 
tended to the increase of profits, inasmuch as it shut out 
foreign competition. 

On the 28th of August, 1830, Mr. Poignand started for 
the post office in Lancaster, as was his wont. When he 
reached J. G. Thurston's store in New Boston, he stopped 
and told Mr. Thurston that he was not feeling well. Mr. 
Thurston took him into the house, where he lay down. He 
died within a few minutes. His wife survived him only 
three years. They were both buried in the cemetery 
opposite Madame Thayer's. It is hard to separate the work 
of Mr. Poignand from that of Mr. Plant so as to assign to 
each his place in the history of the community. The latter 
was the younger man, was more active, enterprising and, 
perhaps, more self-assertive, but, without the pecuniary 
aid of the older man, the factories could never have been 
started here, and his mature judgment was doubtless a most 
important factor in the success of the business. 

The tariff bill of 1832, with its provisions for decreasing 
protective duties, injured the business. Benjamin T. Pick- 
man died in the spring of 1835, leaving his accounts as 
treasurer and selling agent somewhat involved. Thomas C. 
Smith, who settled his affairs, was made treasurer. The 
business prospects were so poor that the factory was closed 
in May of this year. As the stockholders were discouraged, 
in September, the factories were offered at auction. They 
were not sold, however, until July 26, 1836. The purchasers 
were Nathaniel Rand and Samuel Damon of Lancaster, John 
Howe and Edward A. Raymond of Boston. The sum paid 
was only thirteen thousand nine hundred and eighty-one dol- 
lars and fifty-six cents, for one hundred and seventy-seven 
acres of land, the two factories with water power and 
machinery, a blacksmith-shop, machine-shop and eleven 
other buildings. This property was sold in several lots. 
The stockholders had their last meeting October 25, 1838. 
Samuel Plant represented ten shares ; the Poignand estate. 



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Samuel Plant 



PLANT FAMILY. 



157 



nine shares; Thomas Aspinwall, six shares; Augustus Aspin- 
wall, three shares ; Thomas C. Smith, four shares, and 
Charles Torrey, four shares. Thus passed away our first 
great textile industry, but it had prepared the way for a 
greater to follow. 

It is said that Mr. Plant tried to buy the house he had 
lived in, now known as the Parker house, and that he had 
engaged Nathaniel Sawyer to bid it off in his interest. 
Through some misunderstanding, Sawyer's bid was not 
recognized, so Mr. Plant lost his hold on the house. He 
moved to Leicester, and two years afterwards, to North- 
ampton. There, we are told, he spent his old age in writing 
for the press and translating French works. He died in 
February, 1847. 

He had a large and most interesting family. His six 
sons and six daughters were born in or near Factory Village, 
and attended school in District No. 10. His oldest son, 
George Poignand Plant, became one of the great western 
pioneers. A memorial volume says: "Born in a New Eng- 
land village, his boyhood was one of thrift and labor and 
early application to the duties of life, but which, guided by 
the ambition of a gifted sister, directed his mind toward 
those studies and pursuits to which he owes his eminence 
and which in a great measure controlled his after life." "The 
library of his father, chiefly mechanical, scientific and prac- 
tical, served to satisfy his first literary yearnings and to form 
his tastes. The cotton mills of his father afforded his first 
application of that knowledge to material things * * * and 
he chose engineering as a profession." He moved to the 
West, and rose to great prominence in his profession. The 
memorial further states: "The civil engineer under whose 
supervision the road was built, and who then and there 
brought the 'iron horse' into harness — the first in the 
Mississippi Valley — was George P. Plant." He founded the 
firm of George P. Plant, which controlled great flouring 
mills at St. Louis. He held many prominent offices in that 



1^8 THE FIRST COTTON MILL. 

city, among them those of president of the Merchants' 
Exchange, president of the American Central Insurance 
Company, president of the Millers' National Convention, 
president of St. Luke's Hospital. He died February 24, 
1875. His brothers, William, Samuel and Alfred, were 
associated with him in business in St. Louis. The latter 
graduated at Yale College in 1847. These brothers, and 
their descendants, have been among the ablest men of St. 
Louis. 

It is probable that some one of the Prescotts may 
have taken possession of the water privilege in the Nashua 
above the present Lancaster Mills' dam in the early times of 
the settlement, as such a privilege could scarcely have 
escaped the notice of such millwrights. The fall at this 
point is marked upon a map of Lancaster published in 1795, 
as " seven feet." 

August 7, 1796, John Prescott, 5th, sold to Elias Sawyer 
of Boylston, for five hundred dollars, nineteen acres of land 
on the west side of the Nashua, four acres on the east side, 
and "five acres of the river between the two pieces of 
land so as fully to include falls." No buildings are men- 
tioned in the deed. About eight weeks before, Elias Sawyer 
"of Boylston," had sold to Silas Haynes and J. H. Wheeler, 
one hundred and twenty acres of land, with buildings. Mr. 
Sawyer evidently began to build without any adequate means 
for carrying out his plans. A mortgage was placed upon his 
property in 1798, and another in 1799. In this latter year, 
Jesse Cook secured a judgment against him, and a part of 
the land and of a house which had been built, were set off to 
satisfy this judgment. May 23, 1800, Elias Sawyer sold all 
his land here, and all the buildings and fixtures, to John 
Hunt, for a net price of about eight hundred dollars. Ruth 
Sawyer signed the papers as his wife. Thus, this Elias 
Sawyer vanishes from our history. On account of a judg- 
ment secured against John Hunt, the mill privilege of Elias 



THE PITTS FAMILY. 



159 



Sawyer was set off to Stephen Sargent, April 23, 1804. It 
then passed through the hands of Richard Sargent into 
those of Daniel Aldrich of Uxbridge. In 1810, James Pitts, 
Sr., bought the privilege and the property connected with it, 
of Daniel Aldrich. When he settled upon this estate, he 
found the frame of a dwelling-house, which he made into 
the building now known as No. i. Chestnut Street, but the 
mill and dam he was obliged to entirely rebuild. His son 
says: "There was then remaining of Mr. Sawyer's works, 
the frame of the saw-mill which he had commenced, but 
never covered, and which had become so much impaired by 
exposure as to be worthless, and had to be taken down to 
give room to the new structure. * * * There also remained 
of Mr. Sawyer's works the mudsill of his dam, * * * the 
crank and some of the mill-irons which Mr. Sawyer made 
himself. Mr. S. was a most remarkably hard-working man, 
but was very poor and suffered great adversity from want of 
means to complete his mill." 

One of the ancestors of the James Pitts who purchased 
this mill was a maker of clocks in Taunton in the eighteenth 
century ; another owned a grist-mill in the same place ; 
another controlled an iron foundry in Norton and cast for 
the government cannon which were used during the Revolu- 
tion. James Pitts himself was a millwright, and among 
other pieces of w^ork constructed machinery for a cotton 
factory in West Bridgewater. On account of his work else- 
where, Mr. Pitts did not immediately settle upon his prop- 
erty here. Although he completed the house on the west 
side of Chestnut Street, next to the river, partially built by 
Elias Sawyer soon after his purchase, it was not until Sep- 
tember 22, 181 5, that Mr. Pitts, then a man of thirty-two, 
began to occupy it with his family. He lived in one half, 
while in the other half, he and his apprentice, Warren Cud- 
worth, made" the running gear and fixtures " for the saw and 
grist-mills. The next spring, he began his dam. This was 
thirteen feet in height, or less than half as high as that of 



l6o THE FIRST COTTON MILL. 

the Lancaster Mills. Most of the ground now covered by 
the Lancaster Mills Pond must still have been well above 
the water. Meanwhile the saw and grist-mill was being put 
up, so that Mr. Pitts was able to do his first sawing in Novem- 
ber, i8i6. In addition to the land which he bought of Aldrich, 
he bought a piece of Calvin Winter of Boylston and another 
of Deacon John Burdett, so that his farm was in all some 
eighty acres in extent. Most of this land was still uncleared 
forest, which gave material for the work of the mill. A part 
of the intervale where the Lancaster Mills now stand was 
diked and made into grass land. 

Mr. Pitts had brought from West Bridgewater some cot- 
ton machinery which he had there, and in January, 1820, this 
water power was for the first time made to do service for the 
spinning of cotton yarn. This machinery was in a room of 
the saw and grist-mill. At first, very little help was hired for 
the cotton manufacture, but the four sons of the family had 
their stints upon this work from the time they became eight 
years old. In time, the business developed, but the greatest 
number ever employed did not exceed five men and ten 
girls, including the family. 

We have seen how, in 1818, Alanson and Charles Chace 
bought of Mr. Pitts an acre of land and one-twentieth of 
the water power. They built a small tannery about twenty 
rods below the dam. They carried on business for ten years 
and then sold out to Mr. Pitts, who enlarged their tannery 
and changed it into a shingle mill for himself, and a shop 
which he rented to comb makers. In 1831, he enlarged this 
mill still further and introduced here his cotton machinery. 
In 1835, t^^ elder Mr. Pitts committed suicide, and his four 
sons, James, William, Hiram W. and Seth G., undertook the 
business. 

In 1836, the saw and grist-mill, which was just at the 
dam, burned down and a new one was built some fifty feet 
lower down. This mill was sixty feet by sixteen. The other, 
after all its enlargements, was fifty-six by twenty. The Pitts 
brothers changed their business from the manufacture of 
cotton yarn to the making of satinet warps, 



PITTS MILLS. l6l 

In 1841, James Pitts, Jr., by making large additions to a 
house which had been put up by Charles Chace while the tan- 
nery was in operation, fitted it up into a dwelling place, 
which was for forty years or more known as No. i, Green 
Street. It was moved to the German Village at the time of 
the building of the brick boarding-house. Newton Sweet 
and his son, H. N. Sweet, both of whom worked in the mills, 
took the old dwelling-house which afterwards became known 
as No. I, Chestnut Street. The brothers had for some time 
discussed the project of greatly enlarging their works and 
more fully utilizing their water power, but to some of them 
it seemed unwise to attempt so much with such small capi- 
tal as they had. In 1842, certain overtures were made to 
them by the Bigelows, and they agreed to sell all their prop- 
erty for ten thousand dollars, a price which seemed most 
satisfactory to them. Their saw and grist-mill was removed 
down the stream to Sidney Harris' comb shops. On May 
28th, 1844, the mills and the house with the adjoining land 
were deeded to the Lancaster Mills. 

James, William and Seth G. Pitts were all members of the 
Universalist Church formed in Lancaster. The two first 
mentioned signed the constitution when it was first adopted 
in 1838. Hiram W. Pitts was afterward a successful manu- 
facturer in Fitchburg and elsewhere. James Pitts continued 
in this section as a machinist, living to a good old age. He 
conferred a great benefit on succeeding generations by pub- 
lishing as a "Septuagenarian" his "Reminiscences" in the 
Clinton Courant. 



CHAPTER X. 



THE EARLY COMB-MAKERS. 



Comb-making was introduced by new settlers, who soon 
became closely connected by marriage with the earlier 
population. Of the families living within present Clinton 
limits before the closing years of the eighteenth century, 
that of the Pollards is the only one which assumed any 
prominence in the new industry. The names which are 
especially associated with this manufacture are Lowe, Gibbs, 
McCollum, Lewis, Sawtelle, Howard, Burdett and Harris. 

The Lowes of Clinton were descended from Captain 
Nathaniel Lowe, who sailed from Ipswich and was captured 
by the French, May loth, 1742. He was carried to France, 
and never returned to America. His son, Nathaniel Lowe 
of Leominster, the father of Nathaniel and John, was born 
in 1732. In 1795, Nathaniel Lowe, Jr., then a young man of 
thirty-one, bought of Moses Sawyer the land northeast and 
east and southeast of Prescott Mills, which Jabez Prescott 
had sold to Sawyer four years before. This farm of sixty- 
seven acres covered the southern portion of the Plain (now 
so called), together with a greater part of the land between 
the present Walnut Street and South Meadow Brook to the 
base of Burditt Hill. The fourteen acres which remained 
to Capt. John Prescott are spoken of as a notch cut out of 
Mr. Lowe's South Farm. Whether Mr. Lowe moved to 
Clinton at the time of his purchase, is uncertain. He was 
surely settled here when his first daughter, Polly, was born 



THE LOWES. 163 

in 179S. Nathaniel Lowe is recorded in one of his deeds as 
a cooper, and it is said that he made most of his money by 
comb-makini^, but, after he came to this region, he worked 
for awhile as a shoemaker, and his farm received consider- 
able of his attention. He had two large barns, and kept 
oxen and cows and a large flock of sheep. He-built a house 
northwest of the present intersection of High and Water 
Streets, which was in later years moved a few rods to the 
west and made over into the building now standing between 
the railroad and the Yarn Mill and recently occupied by 
Luis Burk. He also built a little shoe-shop, which stood 
northeast of what is now the intersection of High and Water 
Streets. 

Jabez Lowe, his cousin, worked with him in this shop for 
a time. The shop was used by Nathaniel Lowe for making 
combs after 1808. His family consisted of six sons and 
three daughters. Two of his sons and one of his daughters 
died in childhood, or youth, and another daughter just as 
she reached maturity. As the other five children moved to 
the West, his farm passed out of the hands of the family in 
1829, two years after his death. It was bought by Emory 
Harris, who kept for himself the southerly portion and one 
of the barns. He sold the northerl}' portion and the house 
to Amory Pollard. Mr. Pollard sold it to Williams Greene, 
who transferred it to Camden Maynard. P'rancis E. Lowe 
received somewhat more schooling than the other children 
of Nathaniel Lowe, and had the advantage of the instruction 
of the famous Thomas Frye, who taught in the Quaker 
Village in Bolton. While the four brothers all did good 
service in helping to develop the new western country, he 
was especially efficient, and received many honors from his 
fellow-citizens. He is still living in Havana, Illinois. 

Although Nathaniel Lowe probably moved here before 
his brother, John, yet the honor of introducing the comb in- 
dustry is usually assigned to the latter. We are told that 
before he came to this neighborhood he had been, for 



l64 THE EARLY COMB-MAKERS. 

some years, the keeper of the toll-gate on the Haverhill and 
Amesbury Turnpike. In 1800, he bought of John Frye of 
Bolton, the farm which had been previously held by Jona- 
than Prescott and Amos Allen. This has been more recently 
known as the Burdett-Maynard farm, and is on the east side 
of South Main Street, just above the upper Worsted Mill. 
In i8c4, he bought a lot of forty acres, upon which was the 
unfinished house of Benjamin Gould and the nail shop of 
Asahel Tower. Mr. Tower used the water power in cutting 
strips of iron into the desired sizes. The nails were headed 
by hand. Mr. Tower afterwards carried on his business in 
South Lancaster. Arnold Rugg drew wire here for a short 
time. Neither of these men employed many assistants. In 
1804, John Lowe also bought land on the road running from 
Sprague's, or Prescott's Mills, to Sandy Pond. He had 
married Mary Burdett, while in Leominster, and had a son, 
Henry, when he came here. He built the house where his 
son-in-law, Enoch K. Gibbs, now lives, about 1807. His 
shop stood northwest of his house, and has since been made, 
with many changes, into a dwelling-house which still stands 
near by. 

Although comb-making has changed less in the past 
century than most arts, yet many of the processes have been 
greatly simplified and quickened. As John Lowe carried on 
the trade, little machinery was needed and no power was 
employed, except that of the muscles. The horns, which 
had been purchased from the neighboring farmers, or at the 
slaughtering pens at Brighton, were first sawn with a hand- 
saw into desired lengths and down one side to the hole left 
by the extraction of the pith. After they had been heated, 
soaked and softened by dipping in boiling oil, they were 
spread open and placed alternately with hot irons, and then 
the pile was put in clamps and pressed by the aid of wedges 
or of a screw and lever. This pressing was the most dirty 
and heavy part of the work, and was not usual 1)' done by 
those who knew the trade as a whole, but by some one who 



PROCESS OF COMB-MAKING. 165 

looked after that alone. When the horn had been pressed 
sufficiently, it was thoroughly cooled, taken out of the irons 
and thrown into cold water to stiffen it. The next process 
was that of shaping according to the design for the dressing- 
comb, the back-comb, the side-comb, the pocket-comb, or 
the "louse-comb." This was done at the time of which we 
are speaking by the hand-saw, although it was not long be- 
fore dies were introduced. The teeth were marked by a 
pattern, and then sawn b}' hand or, later, by a circular saw 
run by foot-power, or still later, by water-power, when it 
could be obtained. 

In 1826, Joseph Willard, in his "History of Lancaster," 
says : " In consequence of the great improvement in 
machinery within a few years, double the quantity of this 
article (the comb) is manufactured with a considerable 
reduction in price. The improved machinery is an invention 
of Mr. Farnham Plummer of this town. It will cut one 
hundred and twenty dozen side-combs in a day. It cuts out 
two combs from a square piece of horn at the same time. 
The circular saw, which was previousl}- used, cuts but one 
tooth at a time. Capt. Asahel Harris, an intelligent man 
who deals largely in this business, assures me that the new 
machine is a saving of nearly one-half in point of time, that 
it saves also one-third of the stock, besides much hard labor. 
It can be so constructed as to cut combs of an}^ size." 
When the teeth were finished, the comb was smoothed and 
polished on a sponge or felting filled with ground pumice 
stone. The work up to this point was done by men and 
boys; the rest was done by girls. The}' looked over the 
combs to find defects, cleaned them, and did them up in 
paper packages and put them into the wooden boxes read}' 
for sale. Smaller manufacturers often disposed of their 
combs to J. G. Thurston, the store-keeper of South Lan- 
caster, paying their help by orders on him, and receiving the 
rest of their pa}' in goods or in mone}-. We read of one of 
the old comb-makers, who went alone to Albany on horse- 



l66 THE EARLY COMB-MAKERS. 

back, with his merchandise in his saddle-bags, to find a 
market. Of course, the larger manufacturers of later times 
sold the product through agents and city firms. The busi- 
ness started by John Lowe spread so that Mr. Willard said 
in 1826: "There are fifteen or sixteen establishments (in 
Lancaster) for making combs, in which fifty persons at least 
are employed. The annual sales of this article are from fif- 
teen to twenty thousand dollars." 

John Lowe had a family of three sons and six daughters. 
He died in 185 1 at the age of seventy-nine. Henry, his old- 
est son, born February 3, 1801, and Thomas, a son of 
Nathaniel, bought a water privilege on Rigby Brook in 1823, 
and began in the " upper shops," which they built, the manu- 
facture of combs by water-power. Before this time muscu- 
lar power alone was used. They did not succeed in business 
and soon sold out to Henry Lewis, who, in turn, sold in 1836 
to Haskell McCollum, a son-in-law of John Lowe. McCol- 
lum bought another water right of his father-in-law, and tak- 
ing Anson Lowe as a partner built the " middle shops" and 
so increased the business that the district about the shops 
became known as McCollumville. The title of Scrabble 
Hollow, as applied to this section, so familiar in recent 
times, is also a product of the same nicknaming age. Enoch 
K. Gibbs, who had married Martha Lowe, a daughter of 
John, built the "lower shops" four years later. James S. 
Lawrence and Charles Miller were also sons-in-law of John 
Lowe and followed his trade. The sons, sons-in-law and 
grandsons of John Lowe in various combinations carried on 
the comb business here, employing from twenty to twenty- 
five hands, until after the incorporation of Clinton, although 
the middle and upper shops had passed into the hands of 
A. L. Fuller before this time. We shall have frequent occa- 
sion to mention Haskell McCollum and Enoch K. Gibbs in 
the later history of the town. 

These two upper shops were afterwards owned by N. C. 
Munson of Shirley and Charles Frazer. These, with the 



GEORGE HOWARD. 167 

lower shops, which the Lowes retained, were destroyed in 
1876, when the dam at Mossy Pond gave way and the waters 
of the reservoir of the Bigelow Carpet Coinpan}' were preci- 
pitated through Rigb}' Brook. 

The neighboring water privilege on South Meadow Brook 
where Allen's mill had stood, was also utilized for comb- 
making. It will be remembered that it was purchased by 
Moses Emerson in 1813. This Moses Emerson had been a 
merchant on the Old Common, keeping "the most extensive 
store in the county," and was a man of some wealth. He 
kept a " coach," which showed a style of living before un- 
known in this neighborhood. He married his fourth wife in 
1813. He was a selectman of Lancaster during the years 
1813 and 1814. As it is said that he did not move on to his 
newly-acquired property until 1817, his stay here was very 
brief, for he died in 1822, at the age of forty-eight. His 
estate of two hundred and one acres was bought from the 
guardian of his children by George Howard of Bridgewater, 
in 1825. The Goss-AUen mill must have been long disused, 
as it had wholly disappeared at this time. Mr. Howard 
built a new dam, and put up a shop and dwelling-house, all 
of which he rented to Levi Pollard and Joel Sawtelle. They 
made combs here for some years, but as their business did 
not prosper, the)' were obliged to abandon it. George 
Howard then carried it on himself with a much greater 
degree of success. He sold his shop to Ephraim Fuller in 
1839. This shop was made into a dwelling-house, and is 
now located on Fuller Street, and was recently known as the 
Hale house. Mr. Howard lost his wife, Sarah M. Howard, 
September 7, 1830. In 1833, he married Elizabeth Buss of 
Leominster. 

Perhaps there is no family among the comb-makers which 
presents the life of the period in its various phases so fully 
as the Burdett famil}-. For this reason, and also from the 
fact that for three generations this family have taken a 



l68 THE EARLY COMB-MAKERS. 

prominent part in the history of the communit)', a special 
study may be made of it as a type. 

The first member of the family of whom any record has 
been found, was Robert Burdett of Maiden. He was there 
in 1653, the year when Prescott first settled here. His great, 
great grandson, John Burdett, moved from Maiden to 
Leominster in the latter part of the eighteenth century. He 
died there in 1843, ^^ the great age of ninety-seven. He 
was a Revolutionary soldier, and fought at the battles of 
Lexington, Bunker Hill and Saratoga. 

Three of his eleven children settled in the district which 
was to become Clinton : Mary, born in Maiden, March 26, 
1775, who became the wife of John Lowe; John, born in 
Leominster, February 19, 1777, and Nathan, born in Leom- 
inster, July 21, 1788. Another son, Phinehas S., born 
February 19, 1797, lived for some time with his brother, 
Nathan, in his youth, and three sons of Phinehas, Augustus 
P., Horatio S. and Albert T., were engaged in business here 
when Clinton was incorporated. Jerome S., their cousin, the 
son of James, was in business here also. 

We have already seen how John Lowe bought a farm 
here in 1800, and probably settled on it soon after. As soon 
as young Nathan was of age to learn a trade, — in 1808 or 
before, — he became an apprentice at comb-making with his 
brother-in-law, John Lowe, and boarded with him in his new 
house, which he had just built by Rigby Brook. 

It is not probable that Nathan Burdett, and others whom 
we speak of as learning the comb business, were legally 
bound by closely drawn papers, neither was the work of 
these apprentices confined to the shop, but they helped 
on the farm, as the season demanded, and gave a share of 
their time to the cattle. Yet Nathan Burdett must have 
learned his trade in a short time, for he soon became a 
teacher of the art, and had for his pupils the two older sons 
of Daniel Harris, who lived on Water Street, just opposite 
the end of what is now Cedar Street. One of these learners, 



NATHAN BURDETT. 169 

Emory, was the equal of his teacher in age, while Asahel 
was six years younger. It may have been while he was 
working here that he first met Margaret Darling, who be- 
came his wife September 30, 1809. This Margaret Darling 
was of Quaker descent, and came from Smithfield, Rhode 
Island. She was at this time living at the house of Stephen 
Sargent, near b)' that of Daniel Harris. The young couple 
first lived at Daniel Harris', then at John Lowe's, and then 
Mr. Burdett bought the low building still standing as an L 
to a house on the west side of North Main Street, north of 
Hollis Wood's. The house and lot cost three hundred 
dollars. April 5, 1814, Mr. Burdett sold it to Robert Phelps 
for five hundred and fifty dollars. 

Mr. Burdett bought of Ezekiel Rice, the house on Main 
Street, which had been built for Moses Sawyer, Jr., and the 
farm connected with it. A year after he went there, a 
terrific gale occurred. Trees were uprooted, and the air was 
filled with flying boards and bricks, but, although the family 
cowered in the cellar, expecting every second that the 
house would go, yet the heavy oaken timbers withstood the 
force of the wind. This farm contained some thirty-seven 
acres, and extended just north of the reservoir, with an 
average width of twenty-five rods, from Rattlesnake Ledge 
across South Main Street beyond the swamp where Coach- 
lace Pond now lies. Mr. Burdett bought of Captain Thomas 
VV. Lyon, in 1825, twenty acres adjoining and south of his 
original farm. This included the present Reservoir Lot. 
He afterwards bought various other lots of land, especially 
wood-lots by Mossy and Sand}^ Ponds, so that his farm at 
times must have exceeded seventy acres. He always kept a 
yoke of oxen, three or four cows, a small flock of sheep and 
a few swine. For some years he kept four draught horses 
for "teaming." 

The farm afforded excellent pasturage, hay, fodder 
and grain sufficient for the cattle. Indian corn and rye 
furnished the family with hast^'-pudding and brown-bread, 



170 THE EARLY COMB-MAKERS. 

and buckwheat supplied cakes. Wheat was sometimes sown, 
but little used. Pumpkins and potatoes, and the usual 
garden vegetables, were raised in quantities sufficient for the 
needs of the family. The fruits, with the wild berries, fur- 
nished "sauces" and pies. A large portion of the apples 
were sent to Joseph Rice's to be pressed, for no farmer in 
those days could be without his cider. Milk was used as the 
main article of diet by the children, and all beyond what 
was needed in its original form was made into butter and 
cheese. Fowls enough were kept to furnish eggs and an 
occasional chicken. The Burdetts salted down pork and 
beef, smoked hams, and were kept fairly supplied with fresh 
meat by a system of barter. Whenever Nathan Burdett, or 
one of his neighbors, Peter Sawyer, Joseph Rice or John 
Burdett, killed a "critter" or a calf, sheep or hog, he sent 
pieces of it, or perhaps a quarter, to each of the others, ex- 
pecting to receive a like share from them when their turn 
came for slaughtering. The tallow was made into candles. 
The hides were sent to Charles Chace to be tanned, and then 
John Burdett or Alanson Chace made the leather into boots 
and shoes. Although homespun was rapidly giving way to 
store goods, yet the wool from the flock of sheep was sent 
to Ephraim Fuller's to be carded. It was then spun into 
yarn by the women folks, and knitted into stockings, mittens 
and comforters. If the supply was more than sufficient for 
these purposes, it was sent to "Miss" John Goss, who lived 
just east of the point where the Bolton station is now 
located, to be woven into cloth for outer garments, — no one 
wore flannels in those days, — upon her hand-loom. Fire- 
wood and lumber were cut from the forest, and thus nearly 
all the simple wants for shelter, fuel, light, food and clothing 
were supplied by home products, almost as much so as they 
had been a hundred years before. Rum, molasses, salt fish, 
tea, coffee and the spices were still the'principal articles of 
commerce, although the call for dry goods grew greater and 
greater as new tastes were created and cheaply satisfied. 



NATHAN BURDETT. I7I 

These goods were obtained chiefl}' from barter of farm 
products or combs, so that little money was handled. 

Mr. Burdett built on the opposite side of the road from 
his house, a shop of two small rooms for the manufacture of 
combs. In 1820, he became a teamster for Poignand & 
Plant. He continued in their employment for six years, and 
then returned to comb-making, and kept it up, more or less, 
tor a dozen years. He often had four apprentices, or 
journeymen, working for him at one time. Among the 
apprentices at various times, were Charles Copeland, Henry 
Lewis, Henry Lowe, Eben Pratt and Phinehas Burdett. The 
latter was his youngest brother. His sons, too, learned more 
or less of the comb trade. Samuel Dorrison, or Dollison, 
who lived at "Grannie" Sawyer's, — the widow of Moses 
Sawyer, — did the heavy work. Sally Tucker, and the girls 
of the household, did the cleaning and packing. The 
principal product of this shop was pocket-combs, of which 
about twenty-four dozen were made per day, when the farm 
required no attention. 

During the six years from 1 820-1 826, when Mr. Burdett 
was teamster for Poignand & Plant, he drove to Boston once 
every week. During the last part of the time, he had four 
horses. He was usually gone three days on his trip. The first 
day, he would carry the finished cloths to Boston. The 
second, he would unload and load again with cotton, and the 
groceries which he bought for the store of Poignand & Plant 
and that of J. G. Thurston. On the third day, he would come 
home. The neighbors, Joseph Rice, John Burdett, and 
others, would drop in during the evening after his return, and 
as they sat around the foaming pitcher of cider, which was 
often refilled, they would hear the story of the trip. The 
other three days of the week the farm received Mr. Burdett's 
attention. 

There were nine children in the Burdett family, six boys 
and three girls. One of the boys died in childhood, and 
one of the girls in infancy. Hannah Goldthwaite, a young 



i;2 THE EARLY COMB-MAKERS. 

half-sister of Mrs. Burdett, was brought up in the family, 
and one or more apprentices often boarded at the house. 
The routine of life in this large family was similar to that of 
other families in the village, and seems strangely contracted 
according to modern standards. 

The kitchen was the center of home life. It was thirteen 
feet wide and twenty-four feet long. It had no plaster or 
paint. The walls were sheathed, but overhead the beams 
were uncovered, and blackened b}' smoke. From strings 
drawn across, hung the yellow strips of drying pumpkin. 
Here, too, in the early winter, hung the huge bunch of 
sausages, three feet in length and two in thickness. The 
great fire-place was near one end of the room and was so 
large that it was not necessary to cut the "four-foot wood" 
to burn in it. Here, most of the cooking was done by boil- 
ing in iron kettles hung from the crane and by frying in the 
" spider," or by broiling on the gridiron over the coals. The 
Thanksgiving turkey was hung on a stout string from the 
strong mantlepiece, and was turned as it roasted by one of 
the children, who, from a safe distance, twisted and un- 
twisted the string. The "Johnnie cake" was baked on a 
board or pan propped up in front of the fire by bricks. 
Once a week the brick oven was heated by building a fire in 
it, and after the coals had been cleared out, huge, iron bak- 
ing dishes, thick and round, of rye and "Injin" bread were 
put in, and with them an unlimited supply of pumpkin and 
apple pies, the huge pot of beans and the "Injin" pudding. 

The kitchen was, of course, the eating and living room, 
as well as the room for the preparation of food. The front 
room contained the bed of the parents, and underneath it, 
in the daytime, was the trundle bed of the younger children. 
The front door was never opened, for the little "entry" was 
used as a bedroom for the older girls. The boys slept over 
the kitchen. The lower ends of the rafters were just above 
their feet, and the snow, sifting through the loose shingles, 
often gave them an extra coverlet before morning. The 



NATHAN BURDETT. 173 

front room in the second story was not finished off until the 
boys grew up. Built out from the kitchen was a store room, 
with bins for rye meal and Indian meal. There was the 
place for milk and butter, cheese, lard and candles. Apart 
b}- themselves, were hung the hams and, perhaps, in winter, 
the quarters of beef. In the little attic above were the sage, 
the thoroughwort, and the many other herbs that every care- 
ful housewife made ready each autumn. Of course, there 
was a "buttery," where the food and some of the dishes 
were kept. The cellar was stored in winter with the 
products of the garden and the salted meats, and, in sum- 
mer, it had to serve the housewife instead of a refrigerator. 

The famil)^ attended religious services at Lancaster 
Center. The brick church was finished in 18 16. Nathan 
Burdett bought "Pew 126," in the gallery, in 1826, of the 
Town of Lancaster, for thirt}'-eight dollars. The church 
building at that time was still under control of the town. The 
boys in summer time used to walk barefoot as far as Sprague's 
Bridge, and then put on their shoes and stockings, which 
were as carefully taken off on their return. Dr. Nathaniel 
Thayer was their pastor, and his influence entered deeply 
into their lives as it did into those of all his people. It was 
said : "The selectmen did not mend a piece of road with- 
out first consulting Mr. Thayer." He looked after the 
schools, and his kindly presence was often felt by the 
scholars. In doctrine, he was a conservative Unitarian, and 
his preaching had for its chief aim the elevating of 
character. We are told : "As a pastor he was indefati- 
gable. If any were sick or in affliction, his sympathy was 
prompt and sincere. No matter how distant the family 
might live, if they were in trouble, their minister was with 
them, rain or shine." 

Dr. Calvin Carter of Lancaster, was their physician, of 
whom Rev. A. P. Marvin says: "His practice extended 
through the northern and central part of Worcester County 
far into Middlesex. There was no end to his jokes and 
pleasantry." 



174 



THE EARLY COMB-MAKERS. 



People in those times had less of refinement than today, 
but more of a rough, jolly good-fellowship. Yet there was 
a general lack of self-restraint that led to great looseness of 
morals. Men grew hilarious over their liquor and told 
coarse stories such as we seldom hear today. Now the 
Burdett family was one of the most temperate in the neigh- 
borhood, yet even here the older boys were brought up to 
take their hot toddy before breakfast, and it was looked 
upon as very "queer," when one of them gave up his daily 
dram on account of an accident to one of his companions 
in a drunken frolic on a Fourth of July morning. It was 
not until the first third of the century had nearly gone by, 
that the Washingtonian movement made "temperance" 
common, and even then the agreement signed was so lax 
that the society formed was spoken of as "going to its grave 
with the pledge in one hand and the rum-bottle in the other." 
The first temperance society in this section was formed in 
1830, and was made up of young men who had surely seen 
examples enough of the evils of intemperance to lead them 
in the other direction. The Burdett family was one of the 
rare exceptions during the half century that followed the 
Revolution, in which none of the boys became the victims 
of rum. 

From 1842 to 1845, ^^- Burdett was one of the select- 
men of Lancaster. When the growth of District No. 10, 
after the coming of the Bigelows, gave it new influence in 
the affairs of the town, he was chosen as the man who could 
best look after its interests. In 1845, Mrs. Burdett, the 
mother of all his children, died. He afterwards married 
Deborah H. Ross of Sterling. He lived to see all his 
children established in positions of usefulness and honor, 
and died in 1871, at the ripe age of eighty-three. 

Of the children and grandchildren of Nathan Burdett, 
we shall have frequent occasion to speak in later history 
Eliza, the eldest daughter, who married James Stone, 
February 15, 1827, was the mother of Christopher C. Stonq 



JOHN BURDETT. 175 

and Mrs. William T. Freeman. James Stone lived in a house 
on the east side of South Main Street, about half way be- 
tween the old Sawyer place where Widow Betsy Sawyer 
then lived with Samuel Dorrison, and the Nathan Burdett 
house. The building was erected about the time of Mr. 
Stone's marriage. William Burdett, the oldest son, married 
Sally Tucker, August 31, 1832. His father put an addition 
on the northern end of the dwelling-house as a tenement for 
the newly-married couple. After living here for some years, 
the family moved to Northboro, where Mr. Burdett recently 
died. A second daughter married John H. Wood of Holden. 
Two children died in childhood, and the four remaining 
sons, Nathan, Thomas, George W. and Alfred A., as they 
are important factors in the later history of the town, will 
receive our future attention. 

Although John Burdett was not a comb-maker, yet his 
relationship with John Lowe and Nathan Burdett demands 
that he should receive some consideration at this point. He 
was born February 19, 1777, in Leominster. He married 
Sarah Shute. She died March 17, 1832, and Mr. Burdett 
married a widow, Sally Carpenter, August 3, 1834. He came 
from Leominster to this section. He bought the Prescott- 
Allen-Lowe farm, on the slope of Burditt Hill, north of 
that of Joseph Rice, in 1812, of Titus Wilder, Jr. There were 
forty-four acres in this farm. Later, he bought more land. 
At first, he lived in the little old house where John Lowe 
had lived before him, but, about 18 18, he built a house, which 
was considered among the best in Factory Village, on the 
spot where the J. F. Maynard house now stands. James 
Pitts says of him: "Dea. Burdett was a perfect example of 
industry; he was a boot and shoemaker b}' trade, and a 
finished workman, as also an excellent farmer. He managed 
from the income of his small farm and his shoe-bench to 
bring up his large family in respectability and comfort." 
He united New England thrift with religious earnestness. 
We shall find him to be the foremost of the old inhabitants 



176 THE EARLY COMB-MAKERS. 

of the community to take an important part in its later 
commercial development, and we shall also find him the 
spiritual center of the early Baptist society. 'He had six 
sons and seven ciaughters, who grew to maturity. These 
children were notejd for their musical ability. All were good 
singers, and the boys played upon the various instruments 
which were then ujsed in church choirs. John Burdett, Jr., 
was the only one' of his sons who remained in this com- 
munity. This sort was under the instruction of Thomas 
Frye, the Quaker jteacher, for a while. He married Persis 
Houghton in 1832, and took his bride to a new house which 
he built some forty rods north of his father's. He remained 
here ten years. Hfe then moved to Holliston. 

While comb-making in this region had its origin with 
John Lowe, and was carried on in a small way, with varied 
regularity as an adjunct to farming, by a dozen or more 
proprietors, of whom Nathan Burdett has been taken as a 
type, yet it received its final development from the Harris 
family. In 1805, Daniel Harris of Boylston, received from 
the widow of John Hunt the surrender of all rights she 
possessed in the estate on Water Street. This John Hunt, 
during the few years he lived here, was a prominent man in 
School District No. 10, and had charge of the building of 
the first school-house. He was "committee-man" from 1800 
to 1802. We have already noted his large real estate 
transactions. 

The Harris family had settled in Lancaster more than a 
century before. We have seen how Daniel Harris served in 
the Revolutionary War. Soon after the close of the Revo- 
lution, he married Abigail Reed, and his oldest son was 
seventeen years of age before he moved to the Hunt place, 
in 1805, while his youngest son was born in the year before 
his purchase. The farm bought by Daniel Harris was one 
of great area. It began by the river near the present 
position of the "High Bridge" of the New York, New 



HARRIS BRIDGE. 



177 



Haven & Hartford Railroad, and extended along the west 
bank of the river nearly to Elias Sawyer's dam. If Prescott 
Street was extended to meet the river at Lancaster Mills on 
one end, and High Bridge on the other, it would roughly 
mark its western boundary. It was the farm originally 
owned b)' John Prescott, 5th. It included some land east 
of the river. James Pitts says in his "Reminiscences": 
"From my earliest recollection, he (Daniel Harris) always 
had a fine stock of cattle, with spacious barns and all suitable 
outbuildings, with the best horse and carriages in this part 
of the town — and what was better still, always plenty of 
money." 

We have already noted the private "slab bridge" of the 
Prescotts' by which travellers on the road running east from 
the mills crossed the Nashua. In a map made by the state 
survey in 1795, it appears as " Prescott's bridge, 99 feet 
long." It is spoken of as a "town way." In May, 1807, the 
town refused to build Prescott's Bridge, but it gave to pri- 
vate parties one hundred and fift}- dollars towards its con- 
struction. The acceptance of the bridge and roads was the 
result of skillful manceuvering on the part of Daniel Harris. 
The people at the " South End " had long been asking the 
town to take the bridge in charge and give them better ac- 
commodations, but the inhabitants of the other sections 
opposed increasing the taxes for uses that would bring no 
immediate benefit to themselves. In 1814, the people of 
Center and North Lancaster felt that the need of a new 
church was imperative. Here, the people of the "South 
End" who were less interested in the church saw their op- 
portunity, and the}' said that the)- would all join the little 
Baptist organization that was already springing up among 
them, unless the town would accede to their demands in re- 
gard to the bridge and roads. They carried their point, and 
Districts Nos. 10 and ii were represented by Daniel Harris 
and Titus Wilder respectively upon the committee for 
choosing a site for the new church and estimating its cost. 



1/8 



THE EARLY COMB-MAKERS. 



December 4, 1815, the town took formal possession of the 
bridge and the road leading to it from the county road to 
Boylston. In 1817, the care of "Harris Bridge" was as- 
signed to Gardner Pollard. The bridge was damaged by a 
freshet in 1818 and repaired by the town at an expense of 
one hundred and thirty-nine dollars. 

We thus find Districts Nos. 10 and 11 working together, 
perhaps for the first time, against the rest of the town. 
Daniel Harris was by location and interests the connecting 
link between the two sections, and his name was appropri- 
ately given to the bridge. In 1822, it was rebuilt, with 
Daniel Harris as a member of the building committee, at a 
cost of one hundred and forty-six dollars and eighty-seven 
cents. In 1837, ^ much better bridge was built at a cost of 
four hundred and eighty-nine dollars and fifteen cents. 
The necessity for the repeated repair and rebuilding of the 
earlier bridges arose from their cheap and faulty construc- 
tion. Joseph Willard said in 1826: "It has, till lately, been 
usual to build them with piers resting upon mudsills. * * * 
the ice freezing closely around the piers, the water, upon the 
breaking up of the river in spring, works its way underneath 
the ice which forms a compact body under the bridge, raises 
the whole fabric, which thus loosened from its foundations 
is swept away by the accumulated force of the large cakes 
of ice that become irresistible by the power of a very rapid 
current," Later, stone abutments were used with trestle 
work in the center. Later still, the bridges were made with 
a single arch. 

From the time when he came to District No. 10, Mr. 
Harris took an earnest interest in the school, and served for 
three years as "committee man." He was a temperance 
man in an age when temperance men were rare. He died 
at the age of eighty, October 22, 1838. His wife followed 
him March 26, 1842, at the age of seventy-eight. His 
daughter, Maria, married Alanson Chace, and her children 
still retain a portion of the real estate which their mother 



EMORY HARRIS. 



179 



inherited. The two other daughters married gentlemen who 
lived elsewhere, although the daughter of one of them, a 
Miss Plympton, married Levi Harris, and is still living on 
Water Street. For years, the old homestead of the grand- 
father was in possession of Levi Harris. This Levi Harris 
was born in Lunenburg in 1805. He learned comb-making 
of Gardner Pollard. He afterwards went to Leominster. 
After a time, he came back to this community and followed 
his trade at one of the Lowe shops. He lived in the Law- 
rence house. He became the owner of the Daniel Harris 
farm in 1844. He was a "quiet, honest, able citizen," one 
who "always attended strictly to his own business." He 
was a Unitarian in religion. He died October 13, 1883. 

Emory, the oldest of the three sons, was born in 1788. 
We have seen how he learned the comb business of Nathan 
Burdett, but farming always took a large share of his time. 
He lived in the house formerly occupied by Richard Sargent. 
He bought this, with seventy-eight acres of land, of T. W. 
Lyon in 18 12. The preceding year, Lyon had bought the 
house and about forty acres of land of Ebenezer Allen, who 
had bought it of Ephraim Brigham in 1808. On the same 
side of the road was his shop, which was in later years made 
over into a dwelling-house b}' Edmund Harris, while his 
barns were on the southern side. In 1829, his estate was 
greatly enlarged by the purchase of the "Nat. Lowe farm," 
and the retention of the southerly portions. 

Mr. Emory Harris was a very "hardworking" man, and 
at the time of his death in 1838 at the age of fifty, was 
worth from ten to fifteen thousand dollars. This was a 
greater wealth in gold value than Moses Sawyer, Ebenezer 
Allen or either of the Prescotts had ever possessed. The 
size of fortunes measured by money values had, however, 
already begun to increase in this section, as elsewhere in 
growing communities. If we would read histor}- aright, we 
must remember that a hundred thousand dollars to-day in 
Clinton represents less comparative wealth than ten thousand 



l8o THE EARLY COMB-MAKERS. 

did among the farming people and millwrights of a century 
ago, and that the change has been a gradual one. 

On the tombstone of Mr. Harris, we find the inscription, 
" In him the poor and fatherless ever found a friend." Un- 
like many epitaphs this statement represents the chief 
characteristics of the man as he appeared to his neighbors. 
If any industrious young man wanted help to gain a start in 
life, it was to him that he appealed, and he never appealed 
in vain. If any were in trouble, they were sure to find in 
him a sympathizing friend and helper. A single incident 
will illustrate the character of the man. A child of Nathan 
Burdett's was suddenly taken very ill with croup while his 
father was on one of his teaming trips to Boston. It was 
known that the child could not live until the regular time of 
the father's return. The matter came to the ears of Emory 
Harris. He at once mounted his fastest horse and galloped 
away on the Boston Road. He never drew rein except to 
make a change of horses, until he had found the father. He 
told him the story and gave him his horse to return upon, 
while he himself took charge of the team for the rest of the 
trip. Thus he was constantly helping all who were in need. 

Emory Harris married Hezediah Larkin in 1813. She 
died in 1820, at the age of twenty six. By this marriage, he 
had two children, George and Harriet. The latter married 
Charles L. Wilder of Lancaster. The former prepared for 
Brown University, where he graduated in the class of 1827. 
He was a scholar of rare ability and gave promise of a life 
of great usefulness, but after teaching about a year in an 
academy at Wrentham, he had an attack of typhoid fever, 
from which he died at the age of twenty-three. In 1821, 
Mr. Harris married for a second time. His bride was Sally 
Wilder. By this marriage, he had two children, Frederick 
and Emory. Frederick, the older, graduated from Harvard 
University in 1843. He preferred business to professional 
life, and, in a few years we find him engaged with Hiram W. 
Pitts, of Middleboro in cotton manufacturing. Later, he was 



ASAHEL HARRIS. l8l 

at Montreal in the same business and was becoming ver}- 
successful, when, in 1863, he died at the age of forty. 
Emory spent his life on a portion of his father's farm, where 
he died in 1879. His name will appear in connection with 
the history of the new town, of which he was an active citi- 
zen. 

Asahel Harris, the second son of Daniel, devoted him- 
self to comb making more exclusively than his brother, 
Emory, did, and, through his enterprise, the industry was de- 
veloped in new directions. He purchased of Samuel Dorrison 
in 1817 some of the land east of the river, now occupied bj' 
Mrs. E. A. Harris. A house was begun here some three 
years before by Mr. Dorrison on a lot of ten acres, purchased 
of Gardner Pollard. Great changes were made in and about 
the house by Mr. Harris. We may say it was practically 
built by him. He carried on the comb business very profit- 
ably in buildings constructed near his house. In 1826, he 
rented this house and the shops to Jonas B. White, who 
made combs here for two years. At this time, Asahel Harris 
put up the brick building between his father's house and 
that of his brother, Emory. The house is still standing 
northwest of the point where Prescott Street joins Water. 
The long row of wooden buildings attached to the house 
and now used for tenements, were his shops. Here, he used 
horse power. In 1828, the lands and dwelling-house on the 
east side of the river were sold to his younger brother, Sid- 
ney. In 1830 and '31, the dam was built b)' Asahel Harris, 
in company with Sidney, each having one-half of the power, 
Sidney on the east and Asahel on the west. 

In 1834, Asahel Harris met with great business losses and 
the shops on the river, if indeed he possessed an}', together 
with the right to half the water power, passed entirely into 
the hands of Sidney for four hundred dollars. After his 
father's death and that of his elder brother, Emor}-, both of 
which occurred in 1838, he took charge of his father's estate, 
but he transferred it to Levi Harris, who had married his 



l82 THE EARLY COMB-MAKERS. 

sister's daughter. He died in 1844 at the age of fifty, of con- 
sumption, the disease which swept away so many of this 
family. 

He was commonly known as Captain Harris, from his 
having had command of the Lancaster Light Infantry at the 
time of its organization in 1823. He is spoken of as a re- 
markably fine looking officer. His name is especially asso- 
ciated by our older native residents with "the musters," the 
grand holidays of their youth. He married Abigail Phelps 
in 1820, and had five children whose births are recorded, 
four boys and one girl. All of these died or moved away 
from Clinton before they had taken any prominent part in 
its affairs. One was a painter in Westboro ; another fol- 
lowed his father's business in Leominster. 

The history of the youngest brother, Sidney, belongs to 
later times and is therefore left for future consideration. 













SOUTI 

Copied from jnap of James G. Carter publis 







si poS^ ^ 




^_^^^-?«lJe 









i9 OYLSTOM 



I 



SOUTllKRX PORTION OF LANCASTER. 1S30. 

Copied from map of James C. Carter published in ,83 ,. TI.e surveys were made by Jacob Fisher. Ksq.. in ,830. .Scale, .50 rods to the inch. 



1«*' 






CHAPTER XI. 

SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. lo. 

There is no record by which the date of the first school 
kept within the present limits of Clinton can be fixed, but it 
is probable that instruction was given in private houses by 
mutual agreement of families long before any special build- 
ing was erected for the purpose. As we have seen, in 1791, 
the district about Prescott's Mills received as its proportional 
share of the hundred pounds alloted by Lancaster to the 
various "squadrons" three pounds one shilling and ten- 
pence, and the district about Stephen Wilder's received two 
pounds nine shillings and eight pence. In 1795, these two 
districts were respectively known as Nos. 8 and 9. In 1801, 
by re-districting they became Nos. 10 and ii. The records 
of the former district from 1800 to 1847 have been preserved 
and form one of the most valuable authorities now in exist- 
ence for the early history of this section of the town. The 
first entry was made March 25, 1800, Nathaniel Lowe, Jr., act- 
ing as clerk.* 

* The spelling of the records is everywhere retained. The Lowes did 
not then use a final e in their name. 

REQUEST FOR WARRANT FOR SCHOOL MEETING MARCH 25TH, 180O. 

To the Selectmen of Lancaster. 

Gentlemen — We, the subscribers (Inhabitants within the limits of 
the School District No. 8 as appers in Town Records), request you to 
issue your warant for caling a Meeting in said Destrict for the follow- 
ing purpose, viz: 



l86 SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. lo. 

board. In the summer of 1808, there were eight weeks of 
woman school. October 31, 1808, Titus Wilder, Jr., was hired 
to keep school seven weeks, at four dollars and fifty-eight 
cents per week," boarding himself." During this year it was 
voted to find wood among the families of the district in pro- 
portion to the number of scholars each sent, and the follow- 
ing list is given with number of scholars each: "Calvin 
Winter, four; Samuel Allen, three; Daniel Harris, three; J. 
Rice, three; E. Rice, three; N. Low, two; J. Prescott, one; J. 
Goldthwait, one; J. Winter, one; E. Sawyer, one; T.W. Lyon, 
one; J. Low, three." In all, twelve families sent twenty-six 
scholars. From this time on, it was customary to have two 
terms of school, one taught by a woman in the summer and 
one taught by a man in the winter. The length of terms was 
from six to ten weeks, the average being nearer the latter 
limit. About one-third of the money was expended on the 
woman school, and two-thirds on the man school. 

In 1823, in consequence of the increase in the number of 
scholars on account of the development of Poignand & 
Plant's manufacturing enterprise and the growth of the comb 
business, the accommodations were found insufficient, and 
since it was deemed inexpedient to repair the old house, a 
committee consisting of Daniel Harris, Ebenezer Pratt, 
David Poignand, Willard Howe and John Burdett, was 
appointed to consider sites for a new building. It was voted 
December 8th, to build "in front of Capt. Lyon's." David 
Poignand, Joseph Rice and James Pitts were chosen a build- 
ing committee. January 5, 1824, it was voted, that the plan 
presented by James Pitts be adopted " for the model" of the 
house. April 19, 1824, four hundred and twenty dollars were 
appropriated for the building. This house stood on the west 
side of Main Street, with its northern end just at the point 
where the southern end of Parson's blacksmith shop now 
stands. It was built of brick, and the arrangement of the 
interior differed from that of most school-houses then in 
vogue by having all the scholars' desks on one side of the 



'COMMITTEE MEN" AND TEACHERS. 



187 



room, opposite that of the teacher, which was on the western 
side of the building, the door being on the north. There 
were four rows of scholars' desks raised in tiers one above 
the other. 

Nearly every citizen of long continued residence held 
the office of "committee man."* The title of agent was used 
after 1832. The work of this committee man or agent was 
largely prudential in its nature, as the school committee of 
Lancaster, taken as a whole, had a general oversight of the 
schools. Rev. Nathaniel Thayer was the general adviser in 
regard to educational methods, here as elsewhere through- 
out the town, and he was a frequent and welcome visitor in 
the school. 

Most of the teachersf were from Sterling, Berlin or Lan- 



*The following is the list of "Committee men ;" 



1800-1801. John Hunt. 
1801-1802. John Hunt. 
1803. No record. 

ijohn Prescott. 
Joseph Rice. 
Samuel Allen. 
i8ne \ Joseph Rice. 
'^°5- j Edward Low. 
T8n6 ^ John Low. First half. 
■ } Jabez B. Low. Second half 

1807. Daniel Harris. 

1808. Joseph Rice. 
i8og. Nathaniel Low. 

1810. John Low. 

181 1. Daniel Harris. 
18 1 2-1 8 1 5. No record. 

1816. Emory Harris. 

1817. Robert Phelps. 

1 818. Thomas W. Lyon. 



8ig. 
820. 
821. 
822. 
823. 
824. 
825. 
826. 
827. 
828. 
829. 
830. 
831. 
832. 

833. 
834. 
835. 
836. 

837- 



Daniel Harris. 
William "Tombs. 
Samuel Plant. 
David Poignand. 
Willard How. 
Emory Harris. 
James Pitts. 
George Howard. 
Azahel Harris. 
George Sawyer. 
Eben Pratt. 
Hiram P. White. 
George Howard. 
Nathan Burditt. 
Emory Harris. 
Amory Pollard, 
John Burditt. 
Henry Lewis. 
Jonas B. White. 



t An incomplete list of teachers is given below : 

1801. Sally Sawyer (two months). 

1802. Sally Sawyer (four months). 
1807-8. Peter Larkin (seven weeks), Berlin. 
1808-9. Titus Wilder (seven weeks), No. 11 District. 
1810-11. Mr. Hildreth. 

1816. Catherine Larkin, Berlin. 
1816-17. Silas Thurston. 

1817. Betsy Pratt, Sterling. 
1817-18. Peter Thurston [six weeks). 



l88 SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. lo. 

caster itself. The ladies taught during the summer and 
spent the remainder of the year in household duties. The 
male teachers were either farmers or collegians who devoted 
themselves to teaching during the winter months. The 
farmers were in general the better teachers since they ex- 
celled the collegians in experience and disciplinar)- power.' 
Two names stand out from the list with especial prominence, 
both from length of service and the influence they exerted 
upon their scholars, those of Ezra Kendall and Silas Thurs- 
ton. The former was born in 1800 and had already had 
three winters' experience when he began to teach in District 
No. 10. Although a strict disciplinarian, he seldom resorted 
to severe measures. He laid down no laws, but told the 
scholars that he should expect of them " such conduct as 
was becoming in citizens of such a community as that in 
which they lived," and he obtained what he expected. Such 
was his attachment to his scholars that in his ninetieth year 
he still held each one in memory and delighted to recall 
their noble qualities. At the close of his first term of ser- 

1818. Betsy Pratt (five weeks), Harriet Goodwin (three weeks). 
1818-19. Charles Thurston. 

1819. Harriet Goodwin (ten weeks), Lancaster. 
i8ig-2o. Charles Thurston. 

1820. Harriet Goodwin (ten weeks). 
1820-21. Samuel Sawyer (ten weeks), Sterling. 
1821-22. Samuel Sawyer. 

1821-22-23. Sophia Stearns, Lancaster. 

1822-23."! 

1823-24. 1 Ezra Kendall, Sterling. 

1824-25. I George Harris, No. 11 District. 

1825-26.) 

1824. Betsy Rice, Cooperstown, N. Y. 

1826-27. ') Silas Thurston. 

1827-28. [ Wm. Houghton, Berlin. 

1828-29. ) John Burditt, Jr., No. 10 District. 

1828. Sophia White. 

1831. Mary Bailey. 
1831-32. Rufus Torrey. 

1832. Sarah M. Cotton. 
1832-33. Capt. M. Lincoln. 
1836-37. Samuel Carter. 
1837. Sophia C. Johnson. 
1837-38. Silas S. Greenleaf. 



DISCIPLINE. 



189 



vice in the district, he married, and during the three succeed- 
ing winters he lived in Sterling and came to his school from 
there every morning. He was the first male teacher in the 
new school building. Here, he had among his scholars the 
children of the Burdett, Lowe, Harris, Plant, L}'on and 
Wilder families. The text-books used in his day were 
Scott's First Lessons and the American First Class Book in 
reading, Adams' arithmetic and Cummings' geography. 
Writing and spelling received especial attention, and the 
matches in the latter were centers of interest. He taught 
for many years in Sterling after closing his labors in Lan- 
caster, District No. 10, and lived there to a vigorous old age. 
Silas Thurston, whose home was near the Four Ponds, was 
also noted as a disciplinarian. He meted out justice with 
impartial severit)', and during his administration no scholars 
were unable to study on account of the disorder of those 
around them. 

The boys were more boisterous in those days than they 
are at present, and they took every possible advantage of a 
teacher who was weak in discipline or who failed to secure 
their respect. We hear of one case in which the teacher 
was smoked out by closing up the chimney, of another in 
which the whole school pelted the teacher with snowballs 
when he appeared one noon. The methods of discipline 
used by the teachers would seem peculiar to-c^ay. The 
bodies of some of the old scholars still tingle as they recall 
the stick, the strap or the ruler which they felt so frequently 
in their youth. The refractory pupil was often obliged to 
stand before the school with a split stick upon his nose. In 
one case, a teacher took off her garter and tied it around the 
arm of a little boy, and then when his hand began to blacken 
took out her pen-knife and told the lad she was going to let 
out the bad blood so that he would not be naughty any more. 

Although men have been growing gentler, still human 
nature was much the same in the earlier portion of the cen- 
tury that it is to-day. Teachers in general sought with earn- 



190 



SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. lo. 



est, though sometimes erring effort, for the good of the 
scholars, and the scholars, although they sometimes loitered 
on the way, were, if properly directed, eager to prepare 
themselves for a life of usefulness and were never happier 
than when hard at work. 

Including the boarding-houses, there were in 1830 some 
thirty-three dwelling places west of the river within present 
Clinton limits. The three families near Mine Swamp Brook 
formed a distinct community of their own, and the people 
along the South Meadow Road had little in common with 
those of Factory Village. There were about a score of homes 
on Main Street between the present site of E. A. Currier's 
house on the north and the Dorrison place on the south. 
Two of these were north of John Lowe's on the same side of 
North Main Street. Hervey Pierce, a day laborer, lived in 
the house since occupied by Laban Bennett. Ira Stearns 
lived in the house where Albert Lowe now lives. Levi 
Harris, then a young man, and T. Sawyer lived south of John 
Lowe's on the opposite side of the street. Both worked at 
comb-making. There were five houses on Water Street be- 
tween the cotton factory and Daniel Harris'. The families 
at the Pitts Mills were somewhat isolated, as there was only 
a rude cart-path between the little hamlet and Water Street. 

Two cotton factories, together employing less than fifty 
operatives ; half a dozen small comb shops, sometimes giv- 
ing work to as many more ; a score of farms, for the most 
part of considerable area, but with limited profits; two little 
stores, one at Scrabble Hollow and one under control of the 
Lancaster Cotton Manufacturing Company ; a population of 
about two hundred, these were the elements, of which the 
Factory Village was formed. If we add the community 
east of the river, which was about half as large, we have fifty- 
two households and a population of about three hundred 
souls within present Clinton limits in the early thirties. 

Perhaps the two school districts, Nos. 10 and 11, had less 



THE COMING CHANGE. 



191 



in common with each other than either had with Lancaster 
Center, yet the many intermarriages of families tended to 
draw them more closely together, while the building of the 
mills of Mr. Pitts, the comb shop of Sidney Harris and the 
Harrisville Bridge, and the organization of the little Baptist 
society, all conduced to unity of interests. No one who had 
studied the slow growth of the preceding hundred a'nd eighty 
four }'ears, would have imagined that before the second cen- 
tury from the coming of Prescott should be completed, these 
little straggling villages would grow into a flourishing town, 
with a population larger than all of Lancaster had in 1837. 



CHAPTER XII. 

1838-1848. 
THE COMING OF THE BIGELOWS* 

Civilization is the product of ideas. At first thought, 
we might consider mechanical ideas of little importance in 
comparison with those which are moral and spiritual, yet the 
great advance made by the human race during the last 
century is largely due to discoveries in mechanics. The 
thoughts of inventors have added immeasurably to the com- 
fort of mankind, and have given the leisure necessary for 
progress in higher things. 

One of these inventors, Erastus Brigham Bigelow, 
influenced more, perhaps, than any other American, the 
whole development of the textile art. While his life is of 
special interest to the people of Clinton, because he is the 

*For this account of The Coming of the Bigelows the following 
authorities have been consulted : An article in Hunt's Merchants' Maga- 
zine, reprinted in Courant, February 25, 1854 ; articles on Looms in 
Appleton's Dictionary of Mechanics, etc. ; brief address bv Robert C. 
Winthrop in Addresses and Speeches ; Knight's American Mechanical 
Dictionary ; Volume on application for extension of patent on ingrain 
carpet looms ; Address before Wool Manufacturers' Association ; Bio- 
graphical Encyclopaedia of Massachusetts ; Patent Office Reports ; the 
writings of E. B. Bigelow ; the books of the Clinton Company. We 
have also received much direct information from those who have had an 
opportunity to become acquainted with affairs under consideration, 
especially from members of the Bigelow and Fairbanks families, 



HOME. 



193 



most important agent in the world's history who has had his 
home in the community, it demands still more attention, 
because, without this man, the Clinton of today might }'et 
remain an unrealized possibility, since he furnished most of 
the ideas which lie at the basis of its industrial prosperity. 

Even after mechanical ideas have received expression in 
material forms, they are of little value until business ability 
has focused upon them the energies of workers, and scattered 
the product of these two factors among mankind. Although 
E. B. Bigelow did not lack in executive power, yet he was 
fortunate in having united with him in his great enterprises, 
a brother, Horatio Nelson Bigelow, who had a genius for 
management. A wide range of vision which saw the future 
no less clearly than the present, enthusiastic energy which 
swept his fellow workers along with him, together with a 
thorough mastery of detail, made Horatio N. Bigelow a 
manufacturer who has had few equals. His most intimate 
connection with the community, which under his fostering 
care grew into Clinton, gave him a direct influence upon its 
destinies greater even than that of his brother. The two, 
however, must always remain inseparably united in the 
honor which is due to them, as the founders of the town. 

Their father, Ephraim Bigelow, lived in West Boylston, 
and gained his livelihood by farming, as his father, Abel 
Bigelow, had done before him. He eked out a scanty 
income by making chairs and working as a wheelwright in 
winter. He was evidently a man of enterprise, for we find 
him becoming a cotton manufacturer in the days before 
cotton mills were common. The mother is spoken of as a 
woman of "fine presence, much dignity, strong character 
and good sense." It seems probable that the sons inherited 
their characteristics more from her than from their father. 
The old homestead was a large, square, wooden farm-house, 
which is still standing. Horatio Nelson Bigelow, born 
September 13, 1812, and Erastus Brigham Bigelow, born 
April 2, 1814, were the only children of the famil)'. They 



194 



THE COMING OF THE BIGELOWS. 



attended the district school during the portion of the 
year that it was in session, and assisted their parents in the 
work on the farm and in the shop, when they were not 
engaged in study. 

Horatio remained at home until he was sixteen, and then 
lived for two years with his mother's father, and worked for 
him upon the farm. In addition to his study in the district 
schools, he spent two years at Bradford Academy. He then 
became the overseer of his father's cotton mill. For two 
years, he took charge of the weaving room at Beaman's 
Mill, West Boylston. It was here that he met Emily 
Worcester, whom he married, September 24, 1834. John 
Smith married, her sister, hence the business connection of 
Smith with the Bigelovvs. In 1836, he became general 
superintendent of a cotton mill in Shirley. 

The youth of the younger brother was more varied in its 
experience, and we are able to look more closely into its 
details. At the age of eight, he wished to study arithmetic. 
The teacher thought that he was not old enough, and refused 
to let him enter the class at school. The boy was too much 
in earnest to be put off in this way, so he took up the study 
at home and without assistance performed every question in 
Pike's text-book as far as proportion. At the age of ten, he 
was employed on the neighboring farm of Mr. Temple. He 
worked for him during three summers, receiving as wages 
for a part of the time four dollars a month. He, like his 
older brother, early exhibited a musical talent. He became 
proficient on the violin and the delighted villagers predicted 
for him a musical career. In later years, both of the broth- 
ers retained their musical tastes, and we find record of them 
in the orchestra of the Orthodox Society in Lancaster, in a 
choir led by Gilbert Greene. Horatio played first violin 
and Erastus what was then called "second fiddle." He once 
made a chair of novel pattern, which he embellished with 
paint and bronze in such a wonderful manner that the neigh- 
bors looked on it with amazement and declared that he 



YOUTH. 



195 



would become a great painter. He also, from earliest youth, 
had a constructive habit and made many improvements on 
farming tools, thus giving promise of his future success as 
an inventor. 

During these early years, he made good use of his 
slender opportunities at the district school. The knowledge 
and mental discipline he thus gained, excited his ambition, 
and a broader education became his one great desire. His 
father needed his help, however, so he was obliged to go to 
work in the cotton mill. Although he enjoyed studying the 
machinery, the toil was irksome to him. Somehow, he must 
get money for further schooling, so, after working all day in 
the mill, he played his violin at dancing parties until late at 
night. While still a young lad, he invented a hand-loom for 
weaving suspender webbing and another for piping cord. 
From the latter, which worked well, he realized one hundred 
dollars. In 1830, he had saved enough to enable him to 
enter Leicester Academy. He studied Latin, and did so 
well that his teacher recommended a college course. His 
father was not in sympathy with this idea, and, when the 
boy's means were exhausted, he was obliged to go to work- 
again. 

As he disliked the mill, he went to Boston and was 
employed in the dry goods store of S. F. Morse & Co. He 
did not enjoy this occupation and the pay Was so small that 
he could not hope to save much for further stud)^ He 
became interested in stenography and after a few days' work 
without any teacher, he mastered the subject. He wrote a 
little book on short-hand, called "The Self-taught Sten- 
ographer." It was published by Carter & Andrews in Lan- 
caster. In Boston, the book met with a ready sale, but, 
when, encouraged b)' this, he took a partner and enlarged 
the field of his operations, he not only lost all his savings, 
but found himself several hundred dollars in debt. Thus, 
his prospect of gaining an education was again blighted. 

At the age of eighteen, he joined with J. Munroe in the 



ig6 THE COMING OF THE BIGELOWS. 

manufacture of twine. They occupied his father's old mill, 
but circumstances connected with his father's affairs forced 
the partners to give up the business. Bigelow & Munroe 
then tried a cotton factory in Wareham, but did not succeed. 
We now find the boy, for he was only that in years as yet, 
taking lessons in penmanship in New York. He soon 
became a beautiful writer and taught the art for a few 
months, but he abandoned this occupation as he had others 
before. 

Again he returned home and, with the consent of his 
father, resolved to study medicine. He began the prepara- 
tory work at Leicester Academy. After spending a winter 
there, he entered the medical school, where he worked for a 
year, but he longed for further general education as a basis 
for medical knowledge. 

Happening to sleep one night under a Marseilles quilt, 
he began to think of the slow and costly process by which 
it was woven on the hand-loom. His attention was par- 
ticularly called in this direction, because he had seen such 
looms unsuccessfully operated at West Boylston. Could 
not some power-loom be invented by which the labor could 
be lessened ? He set himself to work, and invented an 
automatic loom for weaving knotted counterpanes. Free- 
man, Cobb & Co., of Boston, took the invention off his 
hands, agreeing to look after patents, do the manufacturing 
and give the inventor one-fourth of the profits. Again 
Bigelow's studies were commenced on a broader basis, for 
all of his efforts thus far had tended simply toward this 
object. But he was again destined to disappointment, for 
Freeman, Cobb & Co. failed in the hard times that prevailed 
from 1835 to 1837. There is something pathetic, as well as 
inspiring, in this struggle for an education. The youth is 
groping so blindly, using his wonderful inventive genius, as 
the servant of his other more ordinary intellectual faculties. 
Still in pursuit of this general education, his attention 
was drawn to the question whether coachlace could not be 



COACHLACE LOOM. 197 

manufactured by power. He had seen this fabric laboriously 
woven by hand, while he was teaching penmanship in New 
Jersey. He first sought information in regard to the demand 
for the article, riding about the country in an old yellow 
chaise, to see the carriage manufacturers, and, becoming con- 
vinced that, if a power-loom could be invented, it would be 
profitable, he returned again to his home to meditate on the 
subject. 

This may be considered the turning point in Mr. Bigelow's 
career. He had now reached manhood. Up to this time, 
with education as his object, he had tried many things, and 
had apparently gained permanent success in nothing. His 
friends were justly anxious about him, yet the years of his 
apprenticeship had not been spent in vain. Perhaps, no 
other course could have been found so well suited as the 
one he had taken, to develop the qualities essential to his 
after success. From his schools, he had gained a fair degree 
of general discipline, the power of expressing himself in 
clear and forcible English and a sufificient knowledge of 
mathematics and the natural sciences to serve his needs as 
an inventor. From his varied experience, he had gained 
self-reliance and a general development of character, and, at 
the same time, he had learned something of human nature 
and the art of dealing with men. There was no danger that 
his mind would become unbalanced from the lack of a firm 
foundation for his genius, or that he would be robbed, 
through lack of practical ability, of the result of his labors. 

There is often some brief period in a man's life about 
which all the rest centers. All the past has been simply a 
preparation for the work of this period and all the future is 
destined to the elaboration of its accomplishments. Such a 
period had now come in the life of E. B. Bigelow. He had 
become possessed by an idea which haunted him day and 
night. He was so absorbed in his work that he noted noth- 
ing that was going on around him. The story is told of him, 



igg THE COMING OF THE BIGELOWS. 

that one evening during this period, when he was asked to 
show out a visitor, he took an unh'ghted candle and silentl}' 
leading the groping, stumbling guest through the long, dark 
hall-way, gravely opened for him the door, and then returned 
to meet, with an unconscious stare, the laughter of the 
family. His sanity began to be doubted. Yet he pondered 
on for forty days and then his work was finished and the 
foundation of his future success was laid. A loom for 
weaving coachlace by power had been invented. 

When we consider that this invention contained many of 
the essential principles of his other greatest inventions and 
naturally led on to them, and then remember that these are 
today giving employment to thousands of workmen and 
adding to the comfort of millions throughout the world, we 
may begin to appreciate the fact that this was an important 
period, not only in his life, as an individual, but also in the 
history of civilization. 

This invention, both in itself and in its issues, directly 
affected the history of Clinton and hence the following brief 
description, taken, with slight changes, from "Appleton's 
Dictionary of Mechanics," is given: "The figure on coach- 
lace is produced by raising on the surface of the ground 
cloth a pile similar to the Brussels carpet, formed by looping 
the warps over fine wires which are inserted under such of 
the warps as have been selected by the jacquard to deter- 
mine the figure. The warps are then woven into the body 
of the cloth to tie and fix the loops. The wires are then 
withdrawn and re-inserted. Automatic pincers, as if instinct 
with life, grasp the end of the wire, draw it out from under 
the forward loops, carry it back toward the laythe, where the 
warps are spread apart, forming what is called the open 
shed and then introduce and drop it, that the shed may be 
closed and opened, that by the throw of the shuttle, the 
weft-threads which are to tie and weave the warp-threads 
into the cloth may be beaten up by the reeds. The pincers 
then move back to draw another wire from under the formed 



THE INVENTION PROCESS. 



199 



loops and repeat the same operation, several such wires 
being at the same time in the cloth to prevent the loops 
from being drawn out by the tension which is given on the 
warps to insure an even and regular surface to the fabric ; 
but, as there are a number of these wires woven into the 
cloth, nearly touching one another, it becomes a matter of 
great difficult}- to contrive a mechanism which insures the 
taking of onl}' one of these wires to draw it out, and the se- 
lecting of the proper one at each operation. The pincers 
could not properl}' be made so narrow and work so accu- 
rately as to insure this. This difficulty is overcome by an in- 
genious mechanism placed on the opposite side of the loom, 
which at each operation selects the required wire, and pushes 
gripped sufficiently far beyond the ends of the others to be 
it out by the fingers, which then draw it out, to carr}- it back 
and introduce it in the open shed of the warps." 

As the word, lace, is generall}' associated with fabrics 
differing entirely from coachlace, the details of this patent 
may cause surprise to those who are unfamiliar with the 
article. Coachlace is still manufactured, especially in Phila- 
delphia, and used commonly in carriages for borders and 
straps. It resembles Brussels carpeting somewhat in its 
structure. It was generally woven from two to four inches 
wide, upon a very narrow loom. 

We may here, at the outset of Bigelow's inventions, 
understand more intimately the working of his mind by 
studying his self-analysis. It shows a knowledge of the 
principles of psycholog}- and a power of introspection 
seldom found in a mind devoted to such work as his, and we 
are led to say with his friend, Robert C. Winthrop : "His 
mind seemed capable of intense concentration of thought 
and he could bring it to bear upon any subject, material or 
intellectual, which came within the range of his observation 
and study with something of lens-like precision and direct- 
ness. He marshalled his statistical tables with the same 
skill with which he had applied the hands and levers of his 



200 THE COMING OF THE BIGELOWS. 

magic loom, and illustrated his arguments by facts and 
figures as distinct and exact as the patterns he had taught 
that loom to weave." 

Mr. Bigelow said : " I am not sure, I can convey to your 
mind a satisfactory idea of the inventive process in my own 
case. One thing is certain, it is not chance. Neither does 
it depend, to any great extent, on suggestive circumstances. 
These may present the objects, but they are no guide to the 
invention itself. The falling apple only suggested to New- 
ton a subject of inquiry. All that we know of the law of 
gravitation had to be reasoned out afterward. 

"My first step toward an invention has always been to 
get a clear idea of the object aimed at. I learn its require- 
ments as a whole and also as composed of separate parts. 
If, for example, that object be the weaving of coachlace, I 
ascertain the character of the several motions required and 
the relation which they must sustain to each other in order 
to effect a combined result. Secondly, I devise means to 
produce these motions ; and, thirdly, I combine these means, 
and reduce them to a state of harmonious cooperation. 

"To carry an invention through its first and second stages 
is comparatively easy. The first is simply an investigation 
of facts ; the second, so far as I can trace the operation of 
my own mind, comes through an exercise of the imagination. 
I am never at a loss for means in the sense above explained. 
On the contrary, my chief difficulty is to select from the 
variety always at command those which are most appro- 
priate. To make this choice of the elementary means and 
to combine them in union and harmony, — to conduct, that is, 
an invention through its last or practical stage, constitutes 
the chief labor. 

" In making this choice of the elementary parts, one 
must reason from what is known to what is not so, — keeping 
in mind at the same time the necessary combinations, 
examining each element, not only in reference to its peculiar 
functions, but to its fitness, also, for becoming a part of the 



THE INVENTION PROCESS. 2OI 

whole. Each position must be thus examined and re- 
examined, modified and re-modified, until harmony and 
unity are fully established. From the severity of this labor 
many inventors shrink, and this is the main reason why 
some very ingenious men fail to obtain satisfactory results. 
In my own case, the labor has not ended with the perfection 
of my looms; other machines, preparatory and auxiliary^ 
were necessary to give full effect to the inventions. 

" I find no difficulty in effecting that concentration of 
thought which is so necessary in pursuits like mine. Indeed, 
it is not easy for me to withdraw my mind from any subject 
in which it has once become interested, until its general 
bearings, at least, are fully ascertained. 

" I always mature in my mind the general plan of an in- 
vention before attempting to execute it, resorting occasion- 
ally to sketches on paper for the more intricate parts. A 
draughtsman prepares the working drawings from sketches 
furnished by me, which indicates in figures the proportion 
of the parts. I never make anything with my own hands. 
I do not like even drawing to a scale." 

The loom for weaving coachlace by power having been 
invented, the next thing was to put it into successful 
operation. E. B. Bigelow turned to his brother, H. N. 
Bigelow, who at that time, as has been noted, was acting as 
superintendent of a mill in Shirley. The two brothers were 
lacking in capital, but they knew that would be forthcoming 
as soon as the capabilities of the loom had been demon- 
strated. 

Where should they begin business, in other words, where 
could they get the best prepared facilities for manufacturing 
at the lowest prices ? Fortunately for the "Factory Village" 
of Lancaster, the hard times had destroyed the confidence 
of the cotton manufacturers, and Nathaniel Rand and 
Samuel Damon were glad to lease the upper or "Yellow" 



202 THE COMING OF THE BIGELOWS. 

mill,* on the site of the present Worsted mill, for a small 
rental. This was just the chance that the Bigelows wanted, 
and they seized it at once. The older brother furnished 
what capital they had, but this was so small that we are told 
that two machinists, named Dryden, worked for them several 
itionths before receiving any pay, simply from their faith 
in the final success of the loom. Their father, Ephraim 
Bigelow, helped them put up the .first loom, but the enter- 
prise was saddened by his death before it was at work. 

The value of the loom was soon evident and a company 
was formed for the special purpose of manufacturing coach- 
lace under an act of incorporation, which passed the House 
of Representatives, March 7, 1838. f 

The name of the company was given by E. B. Bigelow. 
He derived it from the name of the Clinton House, in New 
York, where he had stopped while in the city, and with the 
name of which he was especially pleased. Of course the 
name of the hotel came from that of DeWitt Clinton. The 
"Factory Village" soon became known as Clintonville, and 
finally grew into the town of Clinton. 

* This mill is still in existence on the grounds of the Bigelow Carpet 
Co., and is used as a store-house. 

t COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. 

IN THE YEAR ONE THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED AND THIRTY-EIGHT. 

A7t Act to incorporate the Clinton Co7npany : 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in 
General Court assembled, and by authority of the same, as follows : 

Section I. John Wright, Horatio N. Bigelow, Israel Longley, their 
associates and successors, are hereby made a manufacturing corporation 
by the name of the Clinton Company, for the purpose of manufacturing 
cotton, woolen and silk goods and machinery, in the town of Lancaster, 
in the county of Worcester. 

Section II. The said corporation may hold for the purpose afore- 
said real estate to the amount of thirty thousand dollars, and the whole 
capital stock of the corporation shall not exceed one hundred thousand 
dollars. 



THE CLINTON COMPANY. 203 

The capital stock was first made twenty thousand dollars. 
Israel Longley of Shirley was chosen the first president. In 
the second year, Stephen Fairbanks of Boston was presi- 
dent, and Longley, treasurer. Fairbanks, Loring & Co., 
were dealers in hardware and carriage furnishings and took 
an interest in coachlace as an article of sale. It is here that 
the connection of three generations of the Fairbanks family 
with our mills began. To them, the mills, and therefore the 
town, owe much, both for their financial and active business 
relations. In 1841, Fairbanks was re-elected president and 
John Wright of Lowell became treasurer, and upon his 
resignation, H. N. Bigelow was chosen. These four, with 
E. B. Bigelow, were directors. In 1842, Longley sold out 
his stock to H. N. Bigelow, and Wright sold his to E. B. 
Bigelow, so that the interest of these two parties in the 
corporation ceased at this time. Henry P. Fairbanks, the 
son of Stephen, soon became a stockholder, so that the in- 
ventor and manufacturer, together with the buying and 
selling agents, were for years the chief owners of the stock. 
In 1845, some shares were held by David R. Green, William 
C. Upham and Charles T. Appleton. In 1844, the stock was 
made fifty thousand, and in 1845, ^^^ hundred and fifty 
thousand. Twenty-five thousand of this came from the issue 
of stock certificates, the stock being watered to that amount, 
and the remaining seventy-five thousand from the issue of 
new stock. The names of Robert Appleton, William 
Amory, J. S. Amory and S. G. Snelling appear prominentl\' 
in the affairs of the company at a later date. 

During the year 1838, the manufacturing account shows 
the consignments of coachlace to Fairbanks, Loring & Co., 
to have amounted to about nine thousand dollars. In the 
sixteen months next following, the consignments were about 
twelve thousand. The company had not, as yet, made 
ready for work and the machinery account shows that the 
construction of looms was the main business of these two 
years. The first nine months of 1840-41 give a manufactur- 



204 '^^^ COMING OF THE BIGELOWS. 

ing product of coachlace of about twenty-six thousand 
dollars. During the following years, the increase in product, 
with slight fluctuations, kept pace with the increase in stock. 
The average annual gain from 1838 to 1845 ^^^ over twenty 
per cent. During the period of enlargement from 1845 ^^ 
1848 the average profits were twelve and one-half per cent, 
annually.* No wonder such a profit encouraged increase of 
business. 

On the 17th of August, 1842, the Clinton Company, 
which had formerly leased the mill property of Rand & 
Damon at the rate of four hundred and fifty dollars per 
year, received a deed of the whole upper mill privilege, 
with all the buildings that had been previously connected 
with it. On the 26th of January, 1845, by an additional act 
of incorporation, the Clinton Company were allowed to 
increase their capital stock to three hundred thousand 
dollars and hold real estate to the value of one hundred 
thousand in Boylston as well as Lancaster. Sawyer's Mills 
were taken for spinning, this branch of the business being 

*The statement of the financial affairs of the Company August i, 
1845, was as follows : 

Original purchase of real estate (and new house) $10,611 25 

Cost of machine shop, dye house, mills, tenements, etc 17.037 77 

Spinning mill (Sawyer's Mills). 19,741 5^ 

Interest, incidentals, etc 2,316 22 

$49,706 76 

Cost of machinery on hand $35>097 37 

Coachlace loom patent 20,000 00 

Merchandise and cash 26,626 56 

Notes and accounts due 2,530 66 

Amount paid on unfinished contract 12,743 23—96,997 82 

$146,704 58 
The Company's liabilities are 76,704 5^ 

Present capital $70,000 00 

Capital August i, 1844 $54,293 23 

Earnings for the year ending July 31, 1845 $iS,7o6 77 



THE CLINTON COMPANY. 



205 



opened in November, 1846. From 1845 to 1848, the real 
estate and machinery of the company increased several fold 
by building and construction. The wooden mill now in use 
on the grounds of the Bigelow Carpet Co.'s Worsted Mill. 
was, in part, built for a machine shop in anticipation of en- 
largement ; the brick mill, now used as a store-house, was 
built for a weaving mill, and some of the tenement houses 
date from this period.* 

In view of this increase of property, the company asked 
from the legislature an act allowing the capital stock to be 
increased to five hundred thousand dollars. This was 
granted March g, 1848. This rapid development at a time 
when the money market was straightened and the profits 
were decreasing, frightened the more conservative stock- 
holders, and there was comparatively little building for some 
time after this. 

We have thus far considered the stock, manufacturing 
account, profits and real estate of the company, but it is in 
the pay-roll that a corporation influences most directly the 
history of the community in which it manufactures. In 

*A report on the condition of the company November 10, 1847, states 
the company has : 

g2 lace looms, with an estimated annual product.. . . $go,ooo 00 

20 web looms, " " " " 20,000 00 

80 check looms, " " " " .... 100,000 00 
Machine shop 40,000 00 

$250,000 GO 
The property of the company is given as follows : 
Mill, machinery, real estate, and power in Boylston. . $97,903 66 
" " " " " " Clintonville, 189,530 35 

Machine shop, tools and fixtures 34,261 38 

The patents 25,333 59 

$347,028 98 

To which if we add — Railroad stock 6,666 67 

And Hotel stock 5,000 00 

$358,695 55 



2o6 THE COMING OF THE BIGELOWS. 

May, 1841, the pay-roll in the machine shop was one 
hundred and seventy dollars and seventy-six cents ; for 
coachlace manufacture, four hundred dollars and ninety-one 
cents. This probably represents the work of fifteen men 
and twenty-five women. The number employed before 1841 
was not more than half as large. From 1841 to 1843, the 
pay-roll averaged between five and six hundred dollars per 
month. In 1844, it was from eight to ten hundred ; in 1845, 
from fourteen to fifteen hundred ; in 1846, it went up in some 
months to over two thousand, the machine shop receiving 
more than half. In 1847, '^ reached, at times, three thou- 
sand. In April, 1848, after the new part, devoted to the 
manufacture of checks or pantaloon cloth, was fully at work, 
the items were as follows : coachlace, about eight hundred; 
checks, about sixteen hundred ; coloring, about two hun- 
dred ; work in machine shop, about twenty-four hundred ; 
spinning at Sawyer's Mills, about six hundred. This should 
not be received as the usual proportion between the pay-roll 
of the lace and check departments, for the former, generally, 
at least equalled the latter. 

Turning the pay-roll of April, 1845, for closer analysis, 
we find the following nine men were employed in the lace 
manufacturing department : Wm. Eaton,* Stillman Hough- 
ton,* J. F. Houghton, J. H. Bancroft, Reuben Holbrook, 
Alfred Houghton, Charles H. Morgan, Hiram Morgan,* 
Warren Fales. The women employed, as is evident from 
their names, belonged, in many cases, to the old families of 
the town. We find these names: Sawyer, Hemenway, 
Whitney, Hatch, Eaton, Houghton, Eaton, Hapgood, Pow- 
ers, Rand, Whitney, Baker, Sawyer, Nichols, Damon, Whit- 
comb, Whitcomb, Howard, Thomas, Fletcher, Taylor, Nich- 
ols, Barnard, Barnard, Wilder, Harris, Prouty, Whitcomb, 
Tyler, Ward and Hapgood, thirty-one in all, which number, 
added to that of the men, makes forty. The average wages 



* See elsewhere by aid of index for further account of these men. 



PAY-ROLL. 



207 



of the women was a little over twelve dollars per month, or 
about fifty cents per day of twelve hours. 

In the machine shop, during the same month, there were 
twenty-eight hands. A few extra names are added which 
were found on the books later during the year : R. S. Free- 
man,* Abijah Nichols, J. B. Parker,* W. S. Sanderson, R. B. 
Goodale, Theodore Jewett,* Ezra Sawyer,* Hiram Morgan,* 
Jonas Hunt,* Sanborn Worthen, E. W. Goodale,* Washing- 
ton Harris, R. H. Brown, David Sanderson, Joseph Rice, Jr.,* 
David Smith, Nath. Whitcomb, Gilbert L. Ball, Galen L. 
Stevenson, A. H. Plympton, J. C. Parnell, A. H. Smith, 
Michael Smithey, Oliver Sawyer, Daniel Jewett, Jabez L. 
Wright, Horace Loomis, James Hamblet, Obadiah Goodale, 
Clark Hopkins, Emory Farnsworth, James H. Stone,* Samuel 
Beaven,* Samuel Osgood,* A. F. Houghton, James C. Par- 
sons,* B. R. Cotton.* The names of A. C. Dakin* and D. B. 
Ingalls* appear upon the books at a subsequent date. It is 
here in this machine shop that we find, more than anywhere 
else, the promise of the Clinton that was to be, for some of 
the men who were working here afterwards became most 
substantial citizens. Moreover, the later improvements made 
in the machinery of the mills is due in no small degree to 
these men who, under the charge of J. B. Parker, prepared 
many of the original looms. The ofifice work was conducted 
by A. S. Carleton,* to whose careful records we are indebted 
for so many of the particulars here given. Thus we see that, 
including Mr. Bigelow's, there were seventy names on the 
pay-roll of the company. 

In the summer of 1845, ^he outside work of the mill also 
gave employment to between forty and fifty persons. In- 
deed, we are told, that, during this period, nearly every 
farmer in the village became a teamster for the corporation. 
In the list of those working on the wheel-pit and canal, we 
find for the first time, in any numbers, the names of Irish 

*See elsewhere by aid of index for further account of these men. 



2o8 THE COMING OF THE BIGELOWS. 

immigrants — a class destined to take so important a part in 
the after development of the community. Barry, Fahey, 
Durkin, Cummings, Moran, Cain, Finerty, Donahoe, Burke 
and McDermot, are among the names given. 

In January, 1846, the coloring department of the mill 
started ; James R. Stewart and Timothy Moran, were, at first, 
the only dyers. 

To a person of imaginative tendencies, these dry old 
books of a defunct company are full of food for sentiment 
and thought. To the owners of the stock, their great 
success might have given means for hoarding up money and 
delighting in its accumulation, but it actually did give an 
enlarged horizon of life and an increased power of doing 
good. If one could follow the product of the looms, he 
would have spread out before him all the romance of those 
early days before steam cars took the place of coaches. In 
an old settler of Clintonville, this coachlace would bring up 
memories of Stiles, starting out in the early morning for 
Worcester with a jolly coach-load of his patrons, or he 
would think of the rides he had taken across the country in 
his own private carriage, trimmed with this same lace. But 
it is in the pay-roll that the imagination would most delight 
to revel. For what purpose and in what spirit was the money 
earned? In what way was it spent? Were there boys 
here, who were seeking, as E. B. Bigelow had done, funds 
for further education? Were there girls who were earning 
money to buy their wedding garments? Were there young 
people, who were working to support parents, helpless 
through age or vice? Were there husbands and fathers here, 
whose sole ambition was to provide happy homes for their 
families? Were there those whose highest thoughts were 
on food and shelter and dress for themselves and who thus 
plodded on month after month through a tread-mill exist- 
ence, unconscious of the heavens above and around them? 
Were there those to whom their monthly wages meant only 
opportunity for debauch? Were there mothers working in 



WORK OF H. N. BIGELOW. 



209 



the midst of failing health, that their children might have 
advantages such as they themselves had never known? All 
such there doubtless were. Many of the older citizens can 
tell their stories. In presenting these money accounts, we 
have given only the weft threads, but the fabric when woven 
presented figures many hued with base longing and lofty 
aspiration, with dark selfishness and glowing love. We must 
think of these workers as for the most part young people 
with futures before them. In 1838, H. N. Bigelow was only 
twenty-six and E. B. Bigelow only twenty-four. Their fel- 
low-workers were as young as they. 

The agent was the soul of the whole undertaking. He 
gathered around him from all quarters the best men that 
could be found, but, among them all, there was no such 
worker as he. He was always in the mill before it started 
and he was the last to leave it. He was everywhere; he saw 
everything. Having once laid his plans, he never let go of 
them for a moment until they were executed. Under such 
management, the failure of such an invention was impossible. 
H. N. Bigelow, like his brother, was a man over whom ideas 
possessed a certain influence. When absorbed in any scheme 
for the good of the company, he was sometimes impatient 
of interference and moody, but as soon as the idea was 
worked out, his whole nature overflowed with geniality. 

In the spring of 1848, H. N. Bigelow, finding his time 
fully occupied with other and larger enterprises, resigned 
his position as the agent of the Clinton Company. On this 
occasion, the clerks and overseers gave him "a testimonial 
of their gratitude for (his) uniform courtesy, generosity and 
kindness," and A. S. Carleton, in their behalf, said among 
other things : "You have set before us daily an unusual ex- 
ample of diligence, perseverance and activity; and although, 
as our leader, you have often given us a hard chase, we have 
pressed on with that courage which such examples always 
inspire in the hearts of those whose duty it is to follow. * * 
You have led us with a skillful hand and we have had confi- 
dence in our chief." 

15 



210 THE COMING OF THE BIGELOWS. 

E. B. Bigelow, having become convinced that his life- 
work lay in the direction of invention rather than a profes- 
sion, relinquished at this time all idea of devoting himself to 
general culture. We have already spoken of the invention 
of a loom for weaving knotted counterpanes. The firm, 
which had taken this loom in hand and had failed on account 
of the hard times, had recovered itself once more, and one 
di the members made a favorable contract with E. B. Bige- 
low for renewing operations. He meanwhile had seen a form 
of counterpane superior, in his judgment, to the knotted, and 
advised that the contract be given up, as it would not be 
possible to compete with this cheaper and more marketable 
quilt. He set about inventing a power-loom for weaving the 
new form of counterpane, and met with perfect success in 
his study of the problem.* 

*The following is the specification of the patentee : 
In throwing the shuttles, I ensure the two picker-staves to operate 
simultaneously, so that the shuttle may be thrown from which ever of 
the boxes is presented to their action. This I effect by the use of one 
picker-treadle only, which is acted upon by a cam-ball, in tlje usual way 
of working such treadles. From the treadle two bands are extended, 
and press around the two picker-pulleys in such a manner that, when 
the treadle is depressed, both the picker-staves will be set in action at 
the same moment. By this arrangement two or more shuttles may be 
successively thrown from the same end of the loom by the action of one 
treadle. 

The shuttle boxes are raised and lowered in the following manner : 
A shaft extends along the race-beam from one shuttle-box to the other, 
and carries pinions, which take into racks attached to the shuttle-boxes ; 
it will be manifest, therefore, that by causing this shaft to revolve, the 
shuttle-boxes may be raised. The revolving of this shaft is effected by 
the action of a spiral or other spring, one end of which is attached to 
the frame of the loom at its back, and said spring extends forward 
towards the lathe ; from this forward end a band attached to it presses 
round guide-pulleys, and also round a pulley upon the above-named 
shaft, to which latter said band is attached. The action of the spring, 
by its drawing upon the band will cause the pinion shaft to revolve, and 
will consequently raise the shuttle-boxes. Should this spring be thrown 
out of action, and the band by which the shuttle boxes are raised be re-^ 



THE COUNTERPANE MILL. 211 

These counterpanes which are still commonly seen in 
Clinton were made of coarse cotton yarn closely woven with 
raised figures of various design. The counterpane, woven in 
later years, was loose in texture and inferior in qualit}'. In 
1 84 1, the manufacture of quilts was begun by Hugh R. Ken- 
dall in the "lower" mill. This mill had passed through many 
hands since it was owned by the Lancaster Cotton Company 
in 1836. It was sold, in July of that year, to Nathaniel Rand, 
Samuel Damon, E. A. Raymond and John Hughes. March 
22, 1837, Raymond and Hughes sold out to Rand and Damon. 
October i, 1838, Damon sold to Rand his half of the mill 
property, which was then transferred to E. G. Roberts for six 
thousand dollars for a half share, and then Rand and Roberts 



leased, they will then descend by their own gravity. To take off the 
tension of the spring, there is a cam upon which the main shaft of the 
loom, which cam, as the shaft revolves, depresses a treadle, to the end 
of which a band is attached, which operates in such a way, as to relieve 
the shuttle-boxes from the action of the spring, and they then descend. 
In relieving the picker from the point of the shuttle, I make use of 
the protection-rod constituting a part of the apparatus employed in the 
ordinary power-loom, for stopping the loom when the shuttle does not 
arrive home in the shuttle-box. From the protection-rod, which extends 
along below the shuttle-boxes, I allow a small arm or finger to descend, 
which finger, as the latter comes up toward the breast-beam, strikes 
upon a stop or pin, attached, for that purpose, to the frame of the loom, 
causing the protection-rod to rock or revolve to a short distance. This 
gives motion to two arms which extend out from the extreme ends of the 
protection-rod, opposite to the outer ends of each of the shuttle-boxes ; 
from these arms motion is communicated to a lever which works on a 
fulcrum over the outer ends of each of the shuttle-boxes, said arms 
being connected to the lever by rods of wires. By depressing the outer 
ends of these levers their inner ends are raised, and to these ends are 
appended rods which carry pieces of wood or metal, which, when down, 
rest on and embrace the picker-rod, and in that position they serve to 
hold the picker at a short distance from the end of the shuttle-box, and 
to stop the shuttle ; the picker is then removed from the point of the 
shuttle by the raising of the lever, and the picker being made to pass 
home to the end of the box, thus leaving the shuttle and the shuttle-box 
free to be raised or lowered without obstruction, the picker being also 
ready again to act on the shuttle. 



212 THE COMING OF THE BIGELOWS. 

sold to William and Robert Kelley. The Kelleys sold, Sep- 
tember 12, 1839, to Thomas Kendall for twenty-five thousand 
dollars. March 9, 1842, Thomas Kendall sold to Hugh R. 
Kendall for thirty thousand dollars. Here Mr. Kendall, pay- 
ing a royalty to E. B. Bigelow for the use of patent, success- 
fully conducted the manufacture of quilts with H. N. Bigelow 
as agent at a salary of five hundred dollars. February 27, 
1845, the mill was sold to John Lamson for forty thousand 
dollars. The business was then conducted by Hugh R. Ken- 
dall & Co. until the Lancaster Quilt Company was formed in 
1848. This company was incorporated with the right to 
hold capital to the amount of two hundred thousand dollars. 
Among the men holding prominent positions in the mill were 
Caleb Sawyer, in charge of the spinning room, Thomas Saw- 
yer, overseer of weaving room, and A. H. Parker, who looked 
after the bleachery. William N. Peirce, who was afterwards 
in charge of the bleachery, was in these early days learning 
his trade here. The mills were so enlarged and the property 
so increased in value between 1845 ^^^ 185 1. that the Lan- 
caster Quilt Company, on October ist of that year, paid one 
hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars for it. The 
amount of business done previous to 1846 must have been 
very small, reckoned by present standards, but, in later times, 
one hundred hands were employed and a hundred thousand 
quilts worth one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, were 
produced annually. H. N. Bigelow resigned his position as 
agent of the company in 1848, after seven years of successful 
management. 

E. B. Bigelow said in i860: "From the early part of 1839 to 
nearly the close of 1849, ^Y mind and my time were largely 
occupied with the invention and perfecting of my said (in- 
grain carpet) loom." This invention does not directly affect 
Clinton as much as many others, but yet it demands our 
attention as one of a series, which are inseparably connected 
together and interdependent upon each other. Mr. Bigelow's 



THE INGRAIN CARPET LOOM. 213 

name, too, has been more prominently associated with this 
invention than with any other, if, possibly, we except the 
Brussels carpet loom, with which it is so often confused. 
Moreover, the experience gained by Mr. Bigelow during 
these years spent in connection with the great manufacturing 
interests of Lowell and other places, led him to form plans 
for his later enterprises in Clintonville on a larger scale than 
he would otherwise have done. 

In i860, an application for the extension of his most im- 
portant patent on the ingrain carpet loom was made by E. 
B. Bigelow. This was printed in a bulky volume of between 
five and six hundred pages, from which many valuable facts 
may be derived. The first suggestion of the idea of an i.n- 
grain carpet power loom seems to have arisen from a conver- 
sation with Alexander Wright, shortly after the invention of 
the coachlace loom. On account of previous lack of success 
in power looms, all Mr. Bigelow's "applications for pecuni- 
ary aid * * * were unavailing," and he was obliged to bear 
the cost of the first experiments himself. At last, through 
George W. Lyman, treasurer of the Lowell Manufacturing 
Company, he made an arrangement with that company, in 
1839. Mr. Bigelow was to give his time to perfect his inven- 
tion and the company was to construct a trial loom and in 
case of success build a mill for his looms and pay him a 
patent rent. 

The problem before him was a difficult one. It seemed 
no less than the question: How can iron be made to think? 
He must make figures match, have a smooth selvage, and a 
smooth, even face. The hand-loom weaver could by his 
judgment meet all practical difficulties. He could pull the 
weft thread to make the selvage even if the shuttle had done 
its work imperfectly; he could increase or decrease the force 
he put into the lathe if the figure was getting too long or 
too short; he could make the fabric smooth by regulating 
the tension of the warps. How could dead matter do all 
these things? Mr. Bigelow taught it how and invented a 



214 ^^^ COMING OF THE BIGELOWS. 

two-ply carpet loom which would weave twelve yards a day 
of carpeting of a quality far superior to that of the hand- 
loom, which wove only eight. He tried again and soon 
produced a second loom, with various modifications and 
improvements, which would weave eighteen yards. A third 
loom was invented, which brought the product up to over 
twenty-five yards per day. He also produced a three-ply 
carpet loom which manufactured from seventeen to eighteen 
yards per day. The first patents were issued in May, 1842; 
the third and most important, in February, 1846 (antedated); 
the fourth, in October, 1849.* 

Merton C. Bryant, an expert who testified in regard to 
this loom, said: '"The Bigelow carpet power loom for weav- 
ing carpets, as now used, appears to me to be, as a whole, by 
far the most intricate and complicated piece of mechanism 
that I have ever known to be used, and in its inception must 
have called for an immense amount of analysis, combination 
and inventive power. * * * When I consider the loom as a 
whole operating machine, * * * I am led to the greatest 
opinion of the ingenuity, forethought and masterly combina- 
tion contained in it; the automatic working together of vari- 
ous movements in different directions for different purposes, 
seemingly at hazard because not regular, and yet all con- 
trolled and acting in unison. When I see the attendant with 

* In Knight's American Mechanical Dictionary we find the following 
condensed description of the completed loom :— 

"An ingrain carpet loom is one, in which two or more shuttles, one 
for the ground and the other for the figure, are employed. In Bigelow's, 
the two, after being thrown, are received in horizontal boxes on each 
side of the frame, and a third series, containing the different colored 
yarns producing the pattern, are placed in a set of vertically arranged 
boxes; all the shuttles are actuated by the same picker-staves; and the 
figure shuttles are raised and lowed as required by the pinions having a 
reciprocating rotary motion on a shaft, their presentation being deter- 
mined by a pattern wheel, having movable cam surfaces on the shaft; 
one vibrating cam moves the lay forward to beat up the cloth, and an- 
other moves it backward, while a shuttle is thrown." 



THE INGRAIN CARPET LOOM. 



215 



his pattern cards, place them upon the loom and read upon 
them the directions he has thereon stamped, saying to the 
loom, 'Give to the carpet the design the artist has painted,' 
and, on examining the cards separately, see one which says 
'Scarlet-filling-thread here;' another saying, 'Ruby-filling- 
thread here;' another, 'White,' etc.; when I see these stamped 
directions furnished to the loom, and then the loom set to 
work and embroider the design, true and faithful, then, look- 
ing at the intricate mechanism, I have wondered at the skill 
and ingenuity of the inventor." 

B. R. Curtis sums up the testimony as follows: " Mr. Big- 
elow was the first person to demonstrate the practicability 
of successfully weaving carpets by power looms. The loom 
invented by him is the product of a very high order of in- 
ventive genius, sustained by uncommon perseverance and 
industry in overcoming difficulties and reducing mere intel- 
lectual conception to useful and economical results." 

In the later months of 1841, Mr, Bigelow went to Eng- 
land and became convinced that, in many important respects, 
English manufacturers were ahead of the American. The 
mill corporations of Lowell, in order to benefit by his 
suggestions, appointed him general adviser for the corpora- 
tions. During the eighteen months he held this office he 
made many changes for the better in the mills, and he also 
started and organized the first successful power-loom carpet 
mill in the world. 



CHAPTER XIII. 
THE FOUNDING OF LANCASTER MILLS* 

In 1843, E. B. Bigelow, through his natural genius for 
mechanics, his study of manufacturing in America and Eng- 
land and his position of adviser to the mills in Lowell, had 
become one of the leading American authorities on mill con- 
struction, while he seemed to have a monopoly, as an inven- 
tor, in applying power to the weaving of figured fabrics. He 
had also formed an extensive acquaintance with New Eng- 
land capitalists, interested in textile manufactures. It was 
but natural that his attention and that of his friends who had 
money to invest, should be turned to the making of figured 
cotton goods. 

An arrangement was made whereby certain parties agreed 
to secure capital, while Mr. Bigelow was to make plans for a 
mill, advise upon its construction and see that it was equipped 
with suitable machinery. There seems to have been an un- 
derstanding at first that the company to be formed should 
make blue and white cotton checks and that, if Mr. Bigelow 
could invent machinery for more complex patterns, it should 
be used, whenever it could be to advantage. 

Where should the mills be located? The water power 
furnished by the fall of the Nashua River in Clintonville, and 

* In addition to the authorities given on the "Coming of the Bige- 
lows," we would acknowledge our indebtedness to James Pitts for infor- 
mation in regard to Pitts Mills, and to George W. Weeks for the main 
body of facts in regard to Lancaster Mills. 



CHOOSING THE SITE. 



217 



the cheapness of the terms on which the real estate was 
offered led to a decision in favor of the present site. The 
influence of E. B. Bigelow tended strongly in this direction. 
He may have felt some personal attachment to the village 
where he had gained his first permanent success, but his 
desire for the cooperation of his brother, on whom he leaned 
in matters of business management, must have weighed with 
him yet more. H. N. Bigelow's ability had been demon- 
strated by the remarkable prosperity of the Coachlace and 
Quilt Mills, and the prospect of securing his services as 
agent must have added greatly in the minds of those inter- 
ested, to the balance of reasons for establishing their plant 
in Clintonville. 

If, in the summer of 1843, the Bigelow brothers had 
walked out to look over the premises where they were hop- 
ing the new mills might be built, the views which met their 
eyes as they passed along the road over the brow of the hill 
would have been very different from those which now attract 
the gaze of the passer-by. Before 1838, there had been onl}' 
a rude cart-path from Main Street to the Pitts Mills, but, on 
the petition of the Pitts family in that year, a road had been 
built by the town. It followed, as the cart-path had done, 
the depression between Burditt and Harris Hills, a little 
south of the present line of Union and Mechanic Streets, 
and then descended the hill where there is now a foot-path 
on the east of Chestnut Street. It went b}- the Pitts Mills 
and the dwelling-house and crossed the river by a ford near 
the present foot-bridge and came out again into the road of 
to-day near what is now known as the Cameron house. The 
present road was laid out by J. C. Hoadley as engineer. 
One of the leading citizens of Lancaster is said to have de- 
clared in town meeting: "God Almighty never intended the 
road should be elsewhere than in the natural depression He 
had made for it." Where the Bigelow Carpet Mill now 
stands, lay "Slab Meadow," and most of the western slope of 
Harris Hill was \et covered with woods. The view of the 



2i8 THE FOUNDING OF LANCASTER MILLS. 

Nashua valley from the brow of the hill was one of forest, 
save where, in the intervale now occupied by the Lancaster 
Mills and Green Street, there was a luxuriant meadow of 
twenty or thirty acres, cultivated by the Pitts family.* There 
were two little mills, the saw and grist-mill, and another, used 
for manufacturing cotton goods. In both mills together 
there were, at this time, five men and ten girls. The dam 
used by the Pitts brothers was thirteen feet high, and in the 
same position as the present one. This dam flowed back the 
river about a mile and the pond was nowhere more than two 
hundred feet wide. Near the dam, at the foot of the Chest- 
nut Street of to-day, was a house, now No. i, Chestnut 
Street. The Sargent house was just across the river, where 
it is still standing. 

The power furnished by South Meadow, Rigby and Mine 
Swamp Brooks had been thoroughly utilized before this time, 
and some advantage had been taken of the fall of the Nashua 
both here at the Pitts Mills and at the Harris Comb Shops, 
but most of the force of the river was yet running to waste. 
When the Bigelow brothers stood here on the banks of the 
rapidly descending stream, they must have realized most 
keenly the value of the force which was waiting here for some 
one to control it and bring it into the service of man, an 
available force of seven hundred horse-power, capable of 
doing continuously the work of a thousand men, if brains 
and money could be found to apply it to advantage. Here, 
the most important factor furnished by nature for the build- 
ing up of Clinton was brought into connection with the most 
important personal factors in her development, at a time 
when the course of the world's history encouraged the 
establishment of such industries as those on which the pros- 
perity of the town was to be founded. 

We must remember that, up to this time, Factory Village 
had remained a little hamlet, scarcely larger than it had been 

*See, for further account of earlier history, pages 158-160. 



INCORPORATION. 



219 



in the thirties, when it was credited with less than three hun- 
dred inhabitants. It was not until after 1843 that any exten- 
sive enlargements were made at the Coachlace or Quilt Mills, 
and these, with a few other much smaller mills, like those of 
Pitts and Fuller, and several small comb shops, did all the 
business that was done except a little farming. The few 
houses on the west side of the river were still for the most 
part scattered along Main and Water Streets. There was no 
church, no railroad, no post-office, no hotel worthy of the 
name. There may have been one or two little country stores 
and there was a single district school. On the east of the 
river, there were a few more farm houses and another little 
school. 

The next seven years, were destined to be a period of re- 
markable growth, changing the straggling village into a 
thriving town with a population of as many thousands as it 
then had hundreds. We have already traced the develop- 
ment of the Clinton Company's mills and that of the Quilt 
Mill during this period, under the fostering care of the Big- 
elows, and now come to consider a far more important ele- 
ment of the town's growth in the building of the Lancaster 
Mills, under the same management. 

An act of incorporation, passed by the House of Repre- 
sentatives January 31, 1844, marks the beginning of the Lan- 
caster Mills.* 

* COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. 

In the year one thousand eight hundred and forty-four. An Act to in- 
corporate the Lancaster Mills : 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in General 
Court assembled, and by authority of the same, as follows : — 

Section i. E. B. Bigelow, Stephen Fairbanks, Henry Timmins, 
their associates and successors, are hereby made a Manufacturing Cor- 
poration, by the name of "Lancaster Mills," for the purpose of manufac- 
turing cotton and other goods, in the Town of Lancaster, in the County 
of Worcester ; and for this purpose shall have all the powers and priv- 



220 THE FOUNDING OF LANCASTER MILLS. 

In addition to E. B. Bigelow, Stephen Fairbanks and 
Henry Timmins, who are mentioned in this act, some of the 
most prominent among the original stockholders of the com- 
pany were N. W. Appleton, Wm. C. Appleton, H. N. Bige- 
low, George Cummings, A. E. Hildreth, Ignatius Sargent, 
Amos Lawrence and George W. Lyman. Several of these 
names we have seen before in the records of the Clinton 
Company, and it may be presumed that there was for years 
a close connection between the two corporations. The Ap- 
pletons were interested in the mills as selling agents. The 
first officers of the company were: Stephen Fairbanks, presi- 
dent; Wm. C. Appleton, treasurer. These two, with E. B. 
Bigelow, Henry Timmins and Robert Appleton, were the 
directors. The capital stock of the company was made five 
hundred thousand dollars, divided into one thousand shares 
at five hundred dollars each. 

On the 28th of May, 1844, the company received of E. B. 
Bigelow its deed of two hundred and thirteen acres of real 
estate, which, with the buildings thereon and sixty-eight 
acres soon after purchased, cost sixteen thousand eight hun- 
dred and ninety-two dollars and sixteen cents. About eighty 
acres, with the water power, the mills and the homestead 



ileges, and be subject to all the duties, restrictions and liabilities set 
forth in the thirty-eighth and forty-fourth chapters of the Revised Stat- 
utes. 

Sect. 2. Said Corporation may hold for the purpose aforesaid, real 
estate to the amount of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and per- 
sonal estate to the amount of three hundred and fifty thousand dollars, 
and the whole Capital Stock of said Corporation shall not exceed five 
hundred thousand dollars. 

House of Representatives, Jan. 31, 1844. 
Passed to be enacted. 

Thomas Kinnicut, Speaker. 

In the Senate, Feb. 2, 1844. 

Passed to be enacted. Josiah Quincy, Jr., President. 

Feb. 5, 1844. Approved. 

Geo. N. Briggs. 



CONSTRUCTION. 221 

came from the Pitts brothers, James, William, H. W. and S. 
G., the rest of the first lot from R. J. Cleveland, Sidney Har- 
ris, William Lintell, Winsor Barnard, Mary Butler, heirs of 
Emory Harris, Phinehas Moore, Horace Jewett, Dolly 
Churchill. The later lots came from the heirs of Moses 
Sawyer, from John Burdett, a house and land from Eliza 
Sargent, wife of Stephen Sargent, lots from Sidney Harris, 
Alanson Chace and Franklin Wilder. This real estate was 
bounded much the same as that of the Lancaster Mills to- 
day, except that many house lots have been sold, especially 
on the Acre, and the flowage rights have been increased. 

After the company was organized, the stock taken and 
the real estate purchased, the next step was construction. 
It was decided to build a comparatively small mill at first, 
but upon such a plan as to admit readily of subsequent en- 
largement. Since land was so cheap and plentiful, the plan 
of a mill of one story was adopted. The Lancaster Mills 
were among the first of this form, which has since proved so 
well adapted to profitable manufacture, and to safety of 
property and life. The original mill* was six hundred and 
fourteen feet long by forty-six feet wide, running parallel 
with what is now Green Street, but nearer the river. In this 
low, long, narrow mill, it was intended that all the processes 
should follow one another in order, from the carding room 
to the cloth room. 

Among those who took contracts for the construction of 
this and subsequent buildings of an early date were William 
T. Merrifield of Worcester, wood work; Ezra Sawyer of Clin- 
tonville, brick work; Oliver Stone and Haskell & Cowdrey 
built some of the tenement houses. 

The dam was among the first things to be constructed, 
and remains in 1895 substantially as it was built, except that 
it was repaired and the wooden cap was replaced by one of 

*None of the walls of the original mill are now left except a portion 
of the engine and wheel house. 



222 THE FOUNDING OF LANCASTER MILLS. 

stone, in 1867. The total length of this dam is three hun- 
dred and twenty-one and seven-eighths feet. It is twelve 
and one-half feet thick. It has a rollway and wings of stone. 
The original cost was twelve thousand six hundred dollars. 
This dam held the water back nearly as far as Sawyers Mills 
in Boylston and caused the overflow of several hundred acres 
of woodland. The power was applied by means of three 
breast wheels, twenty-six feet in diameter, having seventy- 
five horse-power each, making a total of two hundred and 
twenty-five horse-power. Additional power and security in 
times of drought were secured by the immediate purchase of 
a steam engine of two hundred and fifty horse-power. 

H. N. Bigelow, as agent, oversaw, with even more than 
his accustomed energy, these building operations, and E. B. 
Bigelow paid especial attention to the machinery. Speaking 
of the work he had undertaken, he said, after the works were 
finished: "It required much to be created; while all the 
parts were to be adjusted on new principles or in new con- 
nections. The immense amount of minute and complicated 
detail thus involved, the countless arrangements and per- 
plexing combinations which must all contribute to one result, 
and make up one systematic whole, cannot easily be appre- 
ciated by persons unacquainted with machinery. * * * At 
the commencement of an undertaking, so novel as well as so 
extensive ajid complete as this was, no man could do more 
than grasp the general plan." While Mr. Bigelow was thus 
planning to bring all the inventions of others which could 
profitably be used in the manufacture they had undertaken 
into such harmonious relations as to insure the best results, 
he was also devising new looms of his own which should en- 
able the company to make ginghams of more complex pat- 
terns as well as simple cotton checks. Up to this time, 
ginghams had been for the most part made on hand looms 
in the homes of the weavers, who having received a certain 
number of pounds of yarn from the manufacturers, returned 
a proportional number of yards of cloth. On the loth of 



PATENT OF GINGHAM LOOM. 



223 



April, 1845, ^^^- Bigelow received letters patent for an inven- 
tion which was to revolutionize the making of ginghams 
almost as much as his previous inventions, which were power 
looms for figured fabrics, had that of coachlace, counter- 
panes, and ingrain carpets.* 

This was Mr. Bigelow's main invention bearing on the 

*The following are the specifications of his patent for weaving 
plaids, etc: — 

1. What I claim for my invention and desire to secure by letters 
patent, is regulating the delivery of the unwoven warps, as required for 
the weaving of the cloth by the tension of the said warps in combination 
with a brake or stop motion to prevent the tension given to the warps 
by the beat of the lay from affecting the delivery motion. 

2. I also claim, in combination with the method of regulating the de- 
livery of the warps by their tension and controlled by a brake, the tak- 
ing up of the woven cloth by a regular and positive motion, that the 
figure produced thereon may be regular and well matched, the irregu- 
larities of the weft threads being in this manner taken up in the thick- 
ness instead of the length of the cloth. 

3. I also claim in combination with the roller of a positive and regu- 
lar take up motion of a weaving room, the measuring wheel and hand 
or pointer, whereby the quantity of cloth woven is at all times indicated. 

4. I also claim communicating the shifting motion for shifting the 
shuttle boxes up and down when a change of color is required in the 
weft by the gravitating force of a weight or the equivalent thereof where- 
by all injury to the mechanism is avoided should anything be interposed 
to arrest the motion of the moving parts. 

5. I also claim arresting the motion of the shuttle and relieving the 
picker from the end thereof preparatory to the shifting of the shuttle 
boxes by combining with the lay and picker a spring lever, one arm of 
which moves in a slot or the equivalent thereof to give it the required 
motion. 

6. And, lastly, I claim stopping the loom and arresting the momentum 
of the moving parts, at a given and determined point, by means of the 
lever which, when the weft thread is not carried through, is brought into 
contact with a spur on the crank shaft, or the equivalent thereof, which 
forces it back to shift the belt, when this is combined with the fingers, 
which enter into the recesses of the lay and which, when the weft threads 
are carried through, are pushed forward to prevent the lever from stop- 
ping the loorn, 



224 



THE FOUNDING OF LANCASTER MILLS. 



manufacture of ginghams, but we must not forget that the 
whole process from beginning to end was thoroughly over- 
hauled by him, and many minor patents were taken out for 
improvements in various details. Indeed, this collateral 
work must be taken into consideration in all Mr. Bigelow's 
inventions, if we would rightly understand the service he did 
to the world. As he himself has stated; "It is a well-known 
fact that complex inventions have not, as a general thing, 
come at once into use. In many cases, this has been because 
they were not immediately brought into harmony with other 
things. In a state of natural progress, things move on to- 
gether and become naturally adjusted. An important inven- 
tion often disturbs these adjustments, and cannot be made 
to work efficiently until other inventions and new arrange- 
ments have brought all the processes into accordance with 
it. This arduous duty I have endeavored to perform for all 
my looms. 

"Lee's hand stocking-loom was invented several years 
before it was reduced to practice, and even this was not 
effected by the inventor. The comparatively simple power 
loom for weaving plain cloth was of ver)^ slow growth. A 
long time elapsed before its organization was so harmonized 
as to work at all, and for several years afterward, successive 
improvements only gave it a more moderate speed. Its 
capacity, in this respect, has actually been doubled within 
the last fifteen years. If my own more complex machines 
for the production of figured fabrics have attained at once 
to so high a state of perfection, I attribute it, in part, to the 
fact that my attention has also been given to those processes 
which are subordinate, preparatory, and collateral, and that 
these have been made to accord with the main invention. 
That this claim of success is not extravagant will appear, I 
think, when it is considered that the cost of weaving coach- 
lace was at one stride reduced from twenty-two cents to 
three cents a yard." 

The first loom of Mr. Bigelow's ran about one hundred 



ENLARGEMENT. 



225 



picks per minute, while those of the present reach one hun- 
ch'ed and sixty picks. The value of these early looms is 
shown by the fact that, notwithstanding the vast improve- 
ment in every kind of machinery since the time of their con- 
struction, all of the original looms remained in service until 
1887. 

Before the mill already described had been completed, 
the company, encouraged by the readiness with which their 
first stock had been taken, the high manufacturing profits 
which prevailed at this time and the invention of the new 
gingham loom, decided to carry out the entire plan of the 
mills at once and to devote them especially to the manufac- 
ture of ginghams. This new arrangement meant the build- 
ing of mills with five times the floor room of the original 
structure or one hundred and thirty-six thousand and thirteen 
feet. Between the first mill and Green Street, a mill of one 
story, three hundred and fifty-six feet eight inches long, by 
one hundred and seventy-four feet four inches wide, was 
built. This was all in one room, lighted by skylights. It, 
with a portion of the first mill, was to be used for carding, 
spinning and weaving. When completely finished it con- 
tained twenty thousand seven hundred and eighty-four spin- 
dles and five hundred and fifty looms. Southeast of the 
main mill there was a "packing house" one hundred and 
eighty-one feet by seventy-two feet eight inches, three stories 
in height. There was also a dye house one hundred and 
eighty-two feet eight inches long, by ninety-six feet eight 
inches wide, and one story in height. All the wooden tene- 
ment and boarding-houses now belonging to the Lancaster 
Mills, with the exception of one upon Cross Street, and one 
on Green Street, belong to this period. There were also 
several others on Green Street which have since given way 
to brick buildings. The number of these tenements was 
necessarily large as the operatives with few exceptions must 
come from outside of the village and could not therefore have 

16 



226 THE FOUNDING OF LANCASTER MILLS. 

homes of their own at first. It was the object of the Bige- 
lows to make these tenements as attractive as possible in 
order that the workmen might find in them "the pleasures 
of home," and; thus becoming attached to their surround- 
ings, remain free from the desire of change so common 
among mill operatives. How well they succeeded has been 
evidenced by the permanency of workmen in the mills and 
the universal agreement that few factory towns are as attrac- 
tive as Clinton. In 1848, H. N. Bigelow sold land to Lan- 
caster Mills for the reservoirs which are near the southern 
end of Cedar Street. The accounts rendered August 20, 
1849, showed the total cost of the mills when completed to 
have been, including real estate, water power, and tenements, 
but not including interest, eight hundred and two thousand 
two hundred and eighty-four dollars and sixteen cents, or 
thirty-eight dollars and sixty cents per spindle. 

The money to carry out this new building was obtained 
through an act to increase the capital stock of the Lancaster 
Mills, enacted March 15, 1847.. By this act, the stock might 
be increased five hundred thousand dollars. It was increased 
November, 1847, by the addition of a thousand shares of four 
hundred dollars each. The old shares were .equalized in 
value with the new, making a total of two thousand shares 
at four hundred and fifty dollars each. 

Mr. E. B. Bigelow's health at this time gave out from 
pressure of work, for he was not only planning for these 
mills and inventing machinery for them, but was also work- 
ing on his ingrain carpet looms and planning a huge carpet 
mill at Lowell, which was a marvel of mill construction, the 
very walls being part of one great machine. Having com- 
pleted all his plans for these mills and having made the con- 
tracts for the machinery, he went in the autumn of 1847 to 
Europe, to recruit his health. H. N. Bigelow, who from the 
first had controlled the business management of building the 
mills, pressed on the work to completion. He, too, had a 
vast amount of other work on his hands at this time, super- 



DEPRECIATION OF STOCK. 



227 



intending the great additions alread}' described, to the mills 
of the Clinton Company and the Quilt Mill, and, as we shall 
hereafter see, fostering with almost paternal care every en- 
terprise which promised to benefit the community which was 
growing so wonderfully under the impulse which these indus- 
tries had given to it. It seems impossible that any one man 
should have done all that he did in these seven years, for he 
even attempted to attend with the same closeness to every 
detail as when he was managing the little concerns of former 
years. 

Early in 1848, a great change came over the money mar- 
ket of the country; stocks in general fell and manufacturing 
profits declined, and the stock of the Lancaster Mills depre- 
ciated, with that of other corporations, so that shares, with 
a par value of four hundred and fifty dollars, sold for three 
hundred and fifty. In 1849 ^^^ 'S^' t;he market value varied 
from three to four hundred dollars. Another act was se- 
cured to increase the capital stock, May 2, 1849, ^^is time by 
three hundred thousand. The cost of the mills, as is usual, 
had exceeded the expectations of the stockholders. In ex- 
plaining this extra cost of the mills, E. B. Bigelow said 
among other things: " Not only is a high standard of mechan- 
ical construction required to successfully manufacture figured 
goods such as are made at Clinton, but also, much skill and 
experience on the part of the operatives. In this country, it 
is not easy to get that skill. It was, therefore, deemed to be 
sound policy in building the works to make them as attrac- 
tive as was consistent with the nature of the case, so that 
those who had acquired a knowledge of the business would 
have a motive to continue in it at reasonable wages. In the 
plan and construction of the whole establishment, every at- 
tention has been paid to the convenience and comfort of 
those by whom its work is to be done. No mill can be made 
more easy of access, better lighted or better ventilated." 
The mills, and therefore the town, owe much to James S. 
Amory, who was made treasurer of the mills in October, 



228 THE FOUNDING OF LANCASTER MILLS. 

1847, ^^^ who in this financial crisis raised the requisite 
funds to place the mill upon firm footing. 

Turning to the manufacturing accounts, we find the first 
record of cloth, made by the Lancaster Mills, is for the week 
ending December 5, 1846, seven thousand and seventy-two 
yards; for the six months, ending January 31, 1848, three 
hundred and ninety-two thousand five hundred and fifty-one 
yards; for the year, ending January 31, 1849, one million four 
hundred and ninety-one thousand seven hundred and sixty 
yards; for the year, ending January 31, 1850, over four mil- 
lion yards. 

The mills were not, then, under full headway in manufac- 
turing until 1850. This was the first year in which any 
dividend was paid, the amount then being three per cent. 
Between 1844 and 1848, ginghams had fallen from eighteen 
to eleven cents per yard, so that profits were less than had 
been anticipated. 

From the pay-roll we find that, in 1849, there were at 
work three hundred and seventy-seven females and one 
hundred and seventy males; the average earnings of the 
former for a week of seventy-four and a half hours, were three 
dollars and ninety-six cents; of the latter, five dollars and 
seventy-eight cents. Most of the operatives were Yankees, 
and lived in the tenement and boarding-houses. 

In 1849, after the Lancaster Mills had been practically 
finished, H. N. Bigelow, who had become interested in the 
establishment of the Bigelow Carpet Mills, resigned his posi- 
tion as agent here, as he had the year before dissolved his 
connection with the management of the Clinton Company's 
mill and the Quilt Mill, and he was succeeded by Franklin 
Forbes. 

E. B. Bigelow in speaking of his brother's connection 
with the Lancaster Mills, said: " No one, I am sure, who has 
not tried or at least witnessed the experiment, can appreci- 
ate the vast amount of toil and care which devolves upon 
him who attempts to build up and carry into successful oper- 






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H. N. BIGELOW AS AGENT. 22g 

ation a large establishment on the basis of a new invention. 
It is no small matter to accumulate, foster and apply the 
requisite skill to meet the new exigencies of constantly re- 
curring cases, and to make all those practical applications 
which, however minute, are yet essential to success. This 
task, my brother was called upon to perform, and he has per- 
formed for all the establishments in Clinton. The great and 
increasing value of the industrial establishments which he 
has successively constructed, with the thriving and beautiful 
village which has sprung up so rapidly around him, are the 
fruits in no small measure of his exertions." 



CHAPTER XIV. 

THE BRUSSELS CARPET LOOM, AND THE LATER LIFE 
OF E. B. BIGELOW. 

After a period of rest spent in European travel, E. B. 
Bigelow returned to Ameriea and devoted himself to the 
development of the Brussels carpet loom, the crowning work 
of his life. The germ of the invention already existed in the 
coachlace loom, and the Clinton Company held certain 
patent rights which they considered as applicable to the 
manufacture of Brussels carpeting. Indeed, Mr. Bigelow 
states in regard to the coachlace loom patented in April, 
1837: "This loom was in all respects self-acting and em- 
braced the main features of the carpet loom." Also: "I 
made my first application of this invention to the weaving 
of Jacquard Brussels carpets at Lowell, in 1845." The 
patent was taken out in England in March, 1846, but not in 
the United States until later. A committee, appointed No- 
vember 24, 1846, to consider the disposal of the rights of the 
Clinton Company in this loom, reported: These rights had 
best be sold "to a company to be formed for the purpose of 
making carpets," the value to be taken in the stock of the 
company. It was not until 1848, however, that Mr. Bigelow 
found himself ready to attend to the matter. In July of that 
year, we find a record that he brought in a proposition to 
perfect and introduce the invention, and that the company 
made a contract with him having this object in view. 

During the next three years he took out patent after 



EXHIBIT OF FIRST PRODUCTION. 23I 

patent bearing upon the details of this invention. He once 
told a friend that the main outline occurred to him while 
riding in the cars in Europe. Sated with sight-seeing, "an 
irresistible fit of invention came over him, and withdrawing 
himself from the outer world, the machine soon assumed 
form before his mind's eye. The details, however, as we 
learn from those who worked with him, were laboriously 
wrought out in the machine shop and mill, and he apparently 
received many minor suggestions from the experiments 
there tried. 

In 185 1, the loom had been brought to such a high pitch 
of perfection that we find the jury of the Great Exhibition 
of that year in London, making the following statement in 
the supplement to its report: "The specimens of Brussels 
carpeting exhibited by Mr. Bigelow are woven by a power 
loom invented and patented by him, and are better and more 
perfectly woven than any hand-loom goods that have come 
under the notice of the jury. This, however, is a small part 
of their merit, or rather that of Mr. Bigelow, who has com- 
pletely triumphed over the numerous obstacles that presented 
themselves, and succeeded in substituting steam power for 
manual labor in the manufacture of five-frame Brussels car- 
pet. Several patents have been taken out by different inven- 
tors in this country for effecting the same object; but as yet 
none of them have been brought into successful or extensive 
operation, and the honor of this achievement, one of great 
practical difficulty as well as of great commercial value, must 
be awarded to a native of the United States." 

The London Morning Chronicle says: "At the eleventh 
hour, power loom manufactured Brussels was deposited in 
the American division, the merit of the invention and appli- 
cation of this important discovery being due to Mr. E. B. 
Bigelow of the United States. The evidence of the success- 
ful application of a much-wished-for invention is all that 
could be desired. Although various attempts have been 
made to adapt the power loom to carpet weaving in this 



232 



BRUSSELS CARPET LOOM. 



country, there is not, we believe, at this moment, any machin- 
ery perfected for that object. Our American brethren have, 
therefore, gained another step ahead of us and have won an- 
other laurel on this well contested field of the industrial arts." 

The report of the exhibition published by the United 
States government, states: "Toward the close of the exhibi- 
tion, Mr. Bigelow of Boston exhibited several specimens of 
Brussels carpetings made by the power loom, which excited 
much attention. The process, invented and patented by Mr. 
Bigelow, and now in general use in the United States, is alto- 
gether unknown here. * * * It is, perhaps, one of the great- 
est improvements yet made in weaving, and accomplishes 
what has hitherto been deemed an impossibility, viz: the use 
of all varieties of color in the power loom." 

The great carpet manufacturers, Crossley & Sons, of Hal- 
ifax, England, appreciating the value of the invention, pur- 
chased of Mr. Bigelow the patent rights for the United 
Kingdom. J. B. Parker and James Otterson took over to 
England a loom from the mill here, and from this as a model 
the castings were taken and the looms for the mills there 
were constructed. 

As the Brussels carpet loom was only the coachlace loom 
"full grown," there is no one patent outside of this, which 
has already been given, that would demand the attention of 
the general reader. In an invention so complex as this, only 
the practical machinist can grasp it in all its details. Who 
has not wondered, in examining a piece of the carpet, how 
such intricate designs of many colored worsteds could be 
woven so perfectly into the linen web by automatic machin- 
ery? Even with human judgment constantly ready to cor- 
rect the weaving of the pattern formed by the Jacquard, the 
work was marvellous, but when we see lifeless iron doing it 
all alone, we are lost in wonder. The central features of the 
loom are: the insertion and withdrawal of the wires which 
form the loops, and the bringing to the surface at the right 
moment of the particular colors of worsted, required to form 



SUMMARY OF INVENTION. 233 

the pattern. In Mr. Bigelow's original loom the wires, about 
thirty-two inches in length, were managed somewhat as fol- 
lows: A knife separates from the group of wires the one 
next to be taken and directs the pusher which moves it 
toward the pincers: these move forward, grasp the wire, and 
draw it out; meanwhile a double pair of fingers are moving 
forward and, as soon as the wires are dropped by the pincers, 
they take it and carry it to a small trough which has come 
up, ready to receive it; the trough having returned with the 
wire, a pusher, moving through it, sends the wire into the 
open shed through a set of guides, which come up between 
the warp. Three fingered claws plait the selvage and at the 
same time stop the loom if the thread breaks. It will be 
seen that this arrangement and action of the wires is only a 
slight modification of that employed in the coachlace loom. 
It is more difficult to explain clearly the arrangement of 
the yarns without going into a description of the Jacquard, 
which was not an invention of Mr. Bigelow. A few points 
may, however, be given. The yarns are wound separately 
upon bobbins and these are arranged on frames back of the 
loom, tension being given to the thread of each bobbin by a 
leaden weight. There are two hundred and sixty bobbins to 
a frame, and five frames to a loom. The warp worsted from 
each bobbin is carried through a little brass eye. A weight 
is attached to this eye to pull it down by the force of gravit}'. 
The eye is raised by a cord which goes to the Jacquard above. 
This Jacquard, operating in connection with a trap-board 
brings to the surface at the right moment the set of worsteds 
needed for one loop of the pattern. When these worsteds 
have been raised, the wire is inserted, and, then, the worsted 
goes down and the linen warp comes up. The shuttle car- 
ries the linen weft through the warps; the warps are now 
crossed, lock the weft, and the batten beats it up, another 
linen thread is thrown, and, then, the whole is again driven 
against the web by the batten. In the Wilton carpet loom, 
these wires have knives on the top, which cut the worsteds 
of the loops. 



234 THE LATER LIFE OF E. B. BIGELOW. 



When we consider that each of these thousands of parts 
must not only be perfect in its own function, but must also 
work in harmony with every other part to bring about a pre- 
determined end, we feel that inventive genius can go no fur- 
ther, but has reached here a final triumph. 

Leaving for subsequent consideration the development 
of the Bigelow Carpet Company, and the later life of H. N. 
Bigelow, let us follow to the end the story of E. B. Bigelow, 
since it is fitting that we should gain a comprehensive idea 
of the man, whose influence on the town has been so great. 
Outside of the invention of the loom for weaving wire cloth, 
which led to the establishment of the Clinton Wire Cloth 
Company, the later work of E. B. Bigelow started no new 
industries in Clinton, although he maintained his interest in 
the mills and the town until his death. His name frequently 
appears in the reports of the Patent Office from 1850 to i860. 
The looms for tapestry carpets, although they differed some- 
what from those for Brussels, were closely associated with 
them, in the mind of the inventor. Those for silk brocatel, 
first put in operation at Humphreysville, Connecticut, in 185 1, 
belonged to the same series of power looms for weaving fig- 
ured fabrics. 

In addition to the various inventions of which we have 
treated, viz: power looms for weaving coachlace, counter- 
panes, ingrain carpeting, ginghams and other plaids, Brussels 
and Wilton carpeting, tapestry carpeting, silk brocatel, and 
wire cloth, he made many subordinate and auxiliary inven- 
tions, so that the total number of the patents taken out by 
him was in the aggregate over fifty. 

In an article on "The Relations of Capital and Labor" in 
the Atlantic Monthly of October, 1878, Mr. Bigelow states: 
"One woman can weave as much Brussels carpeting by the 
carpet power loom as ten men assisted by ten bo}^s can weave 
by the hand loom. To weave by the hand loom the carpet- 
ing that is now woven by the carpet power loom in its vari- 



ASSOCIATION OF WOOL MANUFACTURERS. 235 

ous applications would require the labor of fourteen thousand 
more persons than are now employed." It is surely no exag- 
geration to say that Mr. Bigelow, through his mechanical 
genius, has already accomplished in the industrial world 
more work than twenty thousand ordinary laborers do by 
brain and muscle in their lifetimes, and these ideas of his will 
still keep working on through an indefinite future. 

Some one has said of Mr. Bigelow that "as an inventor 
he was phenomenal, as an organizer and economical writer 
he was exceptional." We have already considered him as 
an organizer of the industries at Clintonville and Lowell, let 
us glance at his work in this direction in the National Asso- 
ciation of Wool Manufacturers. This body was founded 
November 30, 1864, as a result of a convention held by rep- 
resentative wool manufacturers from twelve states. Mr. Big- 
elow was made the first president, and it devolved upon him 
to prepare a statement of the objects of the association. 
This was no easy task, for there had always been bitter 
antagonism between the various branches of the wool indus- 
try. Mr. Bigelow, feeling that all had common interests, 
boldly declared in spite of lack of sympathy in the society 
and out of it, that the object of the association was " cooper- 
ation among the different classes of producers." Through 
"the rare executive ability" of the president, the wool grow- 
ers and manufacturers were brought into harmonious rela- 
tions, and through their joint efforts, under his leadership, 
such information was laid before Congress as led to the 
adoption of the wool tariff of 1867. In i86g, still acting as 
president of the association, he organized the first great 
exhibit of the characteristic productions of a single industry. 
This exhibition was held in New York, and it was, we are 
told, "the most important precursor of the Centennial, and 
was not surpassed by the latter in its effect to popularize 
American fabrics." 

We have already noted the publication in 1832 of a little 
work of twenty-five pages on short-hand, entitled "The Self- 



236 THE LATER LIFE OF E. B. BIGELOW. 

taught Stenographer." This work, though prepared by a 
boy of eighteen, was of considerable value for a time. In 
later years, Theodore Parker presented his much-used copy 
of the work to the Public Library in Boston. 

Mr. Bigelow's writings of more mature years are of two 
classes. They deal with mechanical and economical sub- 
jects. The remarkable clearness of the former is seen in his 
specifications of patents, which, in themselves alone would, 
if accompanied by the drawings prepared under his direc- 
tion, make a bulky volume. His statements in the applica- 
tion for the extension of his patent on the ingrain carpet 
loom in i860, and the correspondence with Wm. Wood of 
England, relating to the invention of the Jacquard Brussels 
power loom, printed in 1868, complete this class of his pub- 
lications. 

Of his writings on economics, those upon the tariff are of 
most consequence. The first of these is a letter to Thad- 
deus Stevens, published as a pamphlet of six pages. "The 
Tariff Question considered in regard to the policy of England 
and the interests of the United States," is Mr. Bigelow's most 
important contribution to literature. It is a large quarto 
abounding in carefully prepared tables of statistics, and has 
been called by able judges the best presentation of argu- 
ments for the protective system yet published in America. 
It came from the press in 1862, A condensation of the 
same work, with various modifications, was published in 
1877, entitled "The Tariff Policy of England and the United 
States contrasted." In the latter work, he claims that "there 
is no principle of universal application involved either in free 
trade or protection. They are questions of policy." "The 
conditions of production are so different in different coun- 
tries that the customs tariff of every nation should be deter- 
mined by its own interests and needs." After giving the 
history of the Tariff in England and dwelling upon the 
grand possibilities of our own country, he declares "The 
aim should be to establish a national tariff policy, which 



WRITINGS ON ECONOMICS. 



237 



shall be regarded as permanent, and so to frame its pro- 
visions as to promote the use and development of our vast 
national resources." "Not until the cost of labor, taxation 
and capital, through a gradual approximation, or by some 
great alteration here or there, shall have become nearly the 
same in Europe and America, will it be safe to abandon our 
present tariff policy. So long as local taxation shall depend 
on the will and action of the several states, so long as the 
rate of wages and of interest in our country are kept up by 
the abundance of land and the demand of labor, neither 
skill nor assiduity on the part of our producers can remove 
the causes of the disparity which places them at so great 
disadvantage." He argues that protection helps the farmer, 
for without it the consumers of agricultural products must 
become producers and thus diminish agricultural profits with- 
out lowering the price of foreign goods, since these could 
demand their own prices when freed from home competition. 
"The nation," he says, "which produces the most in propor- 
tion to its numbers will be the most prosperous and powerful 
nation. * * * To that end it is necessary that we should 
diversify industry and thereby give employment to all the 
people according to their various tastes and capacities." 
Enough has been given to show the general line of thought 
pursued by the author, but his power of argument and depth 
of research can only be appreciated b}- the careful student 
of his larger volume. 

Among his other writings bearing on economical subjects 
are : "Remarks on the depressed condition of manufactures 
in Massachusetts with suggestions as to its cause and remedy;" 
(1858.) [Translated soon after into the Russian language.] 
"Objects and plans of the National Association of Wool 
Manufacturers;" (1866.) "Address on the wool industry of 
the United States at the exhibition of the American Insti- 
tute in New York;" (Oct. 5, 1869.) An article entitled "The 
Relations of Labor and Capital," in the Atlantic Monthly. 
(Oct., 1878.) His "Statement of facts in regard to Lancas- 



238 THE LATER LIFE OF E. B. BIGELOW. 

ter Mills," (1851) is more personal in its nature, but belongs 
to the same class of works. All of these pamphlets and 
articles are full of nuggets of wisdom. "Capital," he says, 
"is the laborer's best friend; excessive credit his worst 
enemy." "To labor energetically the laborer must be sure 
of receiving the fruits of his industry in a form which he can 
appropriate as his own. * * * Communism has no root in 
the nature of things." "As a means of high productive 
efficiency it should be made possible for every individual to 
acquire a good general education, directed with a view to in- 
vigorate the body, elevate the moral faculties and strengthen 
the intellectual powers, or, in other words, to fit the indi- 
vidual for the general duties of life." 

Among other intellectual qualities displayed in these 
works and in his general conversation is his hatred of side 
issues. He held his mind without the slightest turning to 
the right or left upon the matter in hand. "It is a great 
thing to know what not to do," was one of his favorite 
phrases. He took great pride in thorough work and would 
not tolerate shoddy in anything for which he was responsi- 
ble. He was thus able to fix the standard in every variety 
of goods made on his looms. The same spirit is seen in the 
immense labor that he put into his collection of statistics for 
his work on the tariff. There is little of imagination, humor 
or sentiment in his writings, but they are all clear, terse and 
as convincing as business statements, and by their arrange- 
ment display, like his inventions, that faculty of mind which 
he was wont to insist upon as his chief intellectual charac- 
teristic, that is, the power of seeing the relation of things. 

While Mr. Bigelow inspired wonder by his inventive 
genius, and awakened admiration by his ability as a writer, 
he won esteem and affection by his character as a man. As 
a citizen he was a patriot, but not a partisan. The only time 
in which he appeared prominently in the field of politics was 
in i860, when he was nominated for Congress on the Conser- 
vative and Democratic ticket of the Fourth Massachusetts 




Erastus Brig ham Bigel( 



HONORS CONFERRED. 



239 



District. He failed of election by a few votes, being defeated 
by Alexander H. Rice. iVlthough he was desirous, for the 
sake of saving the Union, to try every compromise, yet, 
when the war was once begun, he was very earnest in his 
desire for its prosecution, and had unbounded faith in the 
final triumph of the North. In the most despondent period 
of the war, he said: "We shall pass through this trial as 
many other nations have passed through theirs, and we shall 
come out of it with spirit unbroken and with augmented 
energies. The insurrection quelled, the Union re-established, 
the innate strength of our free institutions demonstrated, the 
military power of the republic developed and universally 
respected, we shall have the best, if not, indeed, the only 
ground a nation can have for expecting a peace which will 
remain long unbroken." In the latter part of his life, he was 
a Republican, and, as we have seen, was especially interested 
in the question of custom duties, and he did much to for- 
ward such a system of protection, as he believed would 
serve the best interests of the country by tending toward 
maximum production. 

He did much to build up and foster educational institu- 
tions. The Bigelow Free Public Library of Clinton is fitly 
named for him, since he was most liberal in his donations in 
the establishment of the Bigelow Mechanics' Institute, from 
which it sprang. He was one of the founders of the School 
of Technology in Boston, and was, until his death, one of 
its most devoted friends. As a member of the American 
Academy of Arts and Sciences, he participated with de- 
light in conferring honors on his brother inventors. He was 
one of the three trustees of the Museum of Fine Arts. The 
Massachusetts Historical Society has a fund contributed 
in his name by his surviving daughter, and also many valu- 
able gifts made by him personally, while he remained a 
member. He was, too, a member and regular attendant of 
the Thursday Evening Club of Boston. A friend who met 
him often in these societies speaks of the deep interest he 



240 



THE LATER LIFE OF E. B. BIGELOW. 



took in them as a means of promoting the welfare of the 
community. Many scholastic institutions freely conferred 
upon him the degrees that he had so longed to win by regu- 
lar methods in his youth. From Harvard, Yale, Williams 
and Dartmouth, he received the degree of M. A., and from 
Amherst that of LL. D. 

Of Mr. Bigelow as a gentleman in society, a most inti- 
mate friend says: "Genial and communicative, and occa- 
sionally playful in conversation, he was most interested in 
earnest discussion and grave topics. * * * He was so orderly 
that each day's work to be done was set down upon a 
memorandum, and his passages for Europe were engaged 
several months before sailing. Of rare courtesy in his per- 
sonal manners, he restrained a natural irritability, and usually 
successfully struggled against his impulses of impatience 
with those executing his plans who could not conform to his 
own high and, perhaps, exacting standard. His courtesy 
resulted from the kindliness of his nature. His refinement 
in deportment, language and in all his personal habits and 
surroundings proceeded from his high artistic sense." His 
friends are especially enthusiastic about his geniality as a 
host, as he never seemed so happy as when he had guests at 
his table. 

The maiden name of Mr. Bigelow's first wife was Susan 
W. King. She died in 1841. Their only child, a boy, lived 
to be six years old. His second wife, Eliza Frances Means, 
was a daughter of Col. David Means of Amherst, N. H. 
She was teaching school in Lowell when he first met her. 
Their only child, a daughter, born in Boston in 1844, is now 
the wife of Rev. Daniel Merriman, D. D., of the Central Con- 
gregational Church, Worcester. Mr. Bigelow never lived in 
Lancaster or Clinton for any long consecutive period. Be- 
fore the Clinton House was built he used to spend some 
months at a time when business called him here, with his 
brother and mother at what is now known as the Parker 
homestead on Main Street. Later, he stopped several reasons 



HOME LIFE. 



241 



at the Clinton House. He had a house in Boston on Com- 
monwealth Avenue ; this was built and arranged according 
to his own plans, and combined convenience and luxury. 
About ten years before his death, he bought an estate at 
North Conway, N. H., to which he gave the name of Stone- 
hurst. This estate was beautifully located, for it had a 
charming view of the valley of the Saco in the foreground, 
while beyond, in the near distance, lay Mount Washington, 
in all its sublime majesty. He found much enjoyment in 
the construction of his barn and farm buildings, according 
to his own original plans, but took the greatest delight in 
his complete system of irrigation, whereby the waters of the 
Saco were raised to the estate by the power furnished by 
their own descent, through a mechanical contrivance of his 
own. Soon after his house had been built with great labor 
and expense, it was destroyed by fire in his absence, and had 
to be rebuilt. Here he was accustomed to entertain his 
friends in that hospitable fashion of his which made every 
one feel so perfectly at home. 

Our picture would not be complete without stealing one 
glance into the privacy of his domestic life. We learn that 
he was "a most devoted husband and father," that the en- 
trance of the children "into the room where he was at work, 
was always greeted with a smile, although it was evident 
from the expression of his face that he was not intellectually 
conscious of their presence, and that the recognition came 
purely from the sensibilities, for he did not remember after- 
wards that they had been there." These smiles were called 
"heat lightning smiles." He was a most indulgent parent, 
and never refused anything to his children which could be 
given to them. 

In religion, Mr. Bigelowwas a Congregationalist, although 
he was far from being an ardent sectarian. He was "one of 
the forty original members of the Orthodox Congregational 
Society in Lancaster, which was organized in 1839. He 
afterwards attended the Central Church in Boston. 

17 



242 THE LATER LIFE OF E. B. BIGELOW. 

He visited Clinton November 26, 1879, to look after his 
affairs in the mills here, as it was his custom to do at fre- 
quent intervals. On the 6th of December, he was at the 
ofBce of the Carpet Company, of which he was president, 
in Boston. He met there C. F. Fairbanks, the treasurer, 
and C. H. Waters, agent of the Clinton Wire Cloth Com- 
pany. A little later, while talking in his office with Mr. Fay 
of the Lowell Carpet Company, at TI.30 o'clock, raising his 
hand to his face he said, " I think I am becoming paralyzed." 
Consciousness was soon lost, and he died at his home at 
about six in the evening. Funeral services were held in 
Boston, and then the remains were brought to Clinton and 
buried here. The Carpet and Wire Cloth Mills were closed 
for the day. Business in the stores was suspended during 
burial rites, and a large concourse of citizens went in proces- 
sion to the grave. Thus the mortal remains of E. B. Bige- 
low were consigned to their final resting place in the midst 
of the town which, in its most vital part — the mills — is but 
the material expression of his genius, which still lives and 
acts in its throbbing looms. 




Horatio Nelson BiGELow 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE BIGELOW CARPET COMPANY AND LATER LIFE OF 
H. N. BIGELOW. 

In 1849, t^'is Bigelovv brothers took possession of the 
building on the present site of the Bigelow Carpet Mills, 
which had been constructed by H. N. Bigelow in 1847 for a 
stock company, and had previously been used for minor in- 
dustries, subsidiary to the work of the great corporations. 
In this building, the manufacturing of Brussels carpets 
began in the autumn of 1849. ^^ 1850, Henry P. Fairbanks 
became a partner of the Bigelows. The old building was 
raised and a lower story of brick was constructed beneath. 
The mill, when completed, was two stories in height with an 
attic. It was two hundred feet long and forty-two wide. 
The machinery was run by an engine of thirty horse power. 
In this year, the real estate was assessed at eighteen 
thousand two hundred dollars ; the personal property at 
twelve thousand five hundred dollars. In the summer of 
185 1, the twenty-eight looms produced a daily average of 
five hundred yards of Brussels carpet. About fifty males and 
fifty females were employed in this manufacture. Only the 
dyeing, weaving and finishing were done in this building. 
The spinning and other preliminary processes were carried on 
elsewhere. A royalty of one cent per yard was paid to the 
Clinton Company in consideration of its rights in the pat- 
ents. It was in this little mill that the inventions bearing on 
the manufacture of Brussels carpeting were "naturalized," 
and E. B. Bigelow has given the credit to his brother for their 



244 '^^^ BIGELOW CARPET COMPANY. 

great success in this undertaking. To produce this marvellous 
result H. N. Bigelow gave to this new industry his undivided 
attention for several years. In 1852, an addition fifty feet 
in length was made to the eastern end of the building. 

February 14, 1854, Henry P. Fairbanks died. He was a 
son of Stephen Fairbanks and at that time a man of forty- 
five. He was not only the partner and business agent of the 
Bigelows in carpet manufacture, but he was also the busi- 
ness agent of the Clinton Company. He had shown his 
interest in the community, apart from his business relations, 
by giving to the Unitarian Society its building lot. At the 
time of his death, he was president of the common council 
of Charlestown and chairman of the Whig county commit- 
tee for Middlesex. He was considered one of the most sub- 
stantial business men of Boston. We are told : " He was a 
manly man, honoring his name and kind by an independent, 
yet ever courteous bearing ; stooping to no intrigue and 
abhorring all meanness and subterfuge." 

The Bigelow Carpet Company was incorporated March 
16, 1854,* with the privilege of issuing capital stock to the 



*"AN ACT TO INCORPORATE THE BIGELOW CARPET COMPANY." 

"Be it enacted, as follows: 

"Section i. Horatio N. Bigelow, Erastus B. Bigelow and Stephen 
Fairbanks, their associates and successors, are hereby made a corpora- 
tion by the name of the Bigelow Carpet Company; for the purpose of 
manufacturing woolen, linen and woolen, and cotton and woolen fabrics, 
and machinery and other articles necessary or convenient to be used 
therefor, and in carrying on the business thereof, in the town of Clinton, 
in the county of Worcester: and for these purposes shall have all the 
powers and privileges, and be subject to all the duties, restrictions and 
liabilities set forth in the thirty-eighth and forty-fourth chapters of the 
Revised Statutes. 

"Section 2. The said corporation may hold, for the purposes afore- 
said, real estate not exceeding the value of two hundred thousand dol- 
lars. They may hold not exceeding one-half the stock of the Clinton 
Gas Light Company, and their whole capital stock shall not exceed five 
hundred thousand," 



OFFICERS. 



245 



amount of five hundred thousand dollars. Tlie actual capi- 
tal stock in 1854 was one hundred and sixt)' thousand; in 
1855, two hundred thousand; in i860, three hundred .thou- 
sand; in 1861, four hundred thousand; in 1864, five hundred 
thousand; in i865, eight hundred thousand; in 1875, '^ 
reached its maximum of one million and it remains the same 
today. The organization was effected July 6, 1854. Stephen 
Fairbanks was made the first president and retained the 
ofifice until June 2, 1866. He was succeeded by E. B. Bige- 
low, who died in office in December, 1879. H. N. Bigelow 
was treasurer from the date of organization until April, 1861. 
He was followed by Charles A. Whiting, who served until 
November, 1874. Charles F. Fairbanks, the present incum- 
bent, was his successor. Henry M. Simpson was the first 
clerk. August i, 1858, C. L. Swan followed him and he was 
followed by Samuel T. Bigelow, July 12, 1861. June 24, 
1868, Charles F. Fairbanks, who still holds the office, was 
elected. In addition to the two Bigelows and Stephen Fair- 
banks, the name of Henry Kellogg appears on the list of 
directors in 1856, and those of Charles A. Whiting, Charles 
L. Swan and William B. Kendall in 1864. 

The new corporation immediately began to enlarge the 
plant. By the beginning of 1855, a new mill had been com- 
pleted further to the east. This was a brick structure one 
hundred and forty-five feet in length by fifty-three feet 
in width. More attention was paid to beauty of architecture 
than in the previous corporation buildings in town. At this 
time, the company contemplated constructing four wings like 
this to stand two on each side of a main building two hun- 

The two remaining sections state that no stock shall be issued under 
par, and that the act shall take effect on its passage. 

By an act of the General Court approved February 6, 1866, the Bige- 
low Carpet Company was allowed "to increase its capital stock five hun- 
dred thousand dollars, the same to be divided into shares of one thou- 
sand dollars each, and to hold real estate * * * not to exceed three 
hundred and fifty thousand." 



245 THE BIGELOW CARPET COMPANY. 

dred and forty feet by fifty, and two stories in height. On 
the thirteenth of January, 1855, a grand levee was held in 
the newly completed, but as yet unoccupied building, for 
the benefit of the Bigelow Library Association. The deco- 
ration of the great room with Brussels and Wilton carpeting 
was especially effective. 

According to a report made by the assessors of the town 
to the Secretary of the state in June, 1855, two hundred 
and seventy thousand three hundred and twenty-nine pounds 
of wool were bought during the preceding year; two hund- 
red and seven thousand four hundred and sixty-two yards of 
carpeting were manufactured, valued at two hundred thou- 
sand dollars; fifty males and one hundred females were 
employed. 

Early in 1857, another addition was completed, and, in 
March, two similar levees were held in the main room of the 
new structure, which was sixty-six by fifty feet. 

Meanwhile, the affairs of the Clinton Company had not 
been moving so prosperously. After the resignation of H. 
N. Bigelow, May 30, 1848, C. W. Blanchard, formerly the 
agent of the " Old Mill " of the Amoskeag Company, be- 
came agent here. Mr. Blanchard was an influential and 
public spirited citizen. He was chairman of the school com- 
mittee for the year 1850-1, and prepared the first school 
report of the new town. In the same year, he wrote the 
report of the committee which founded the pauper estab- 
lishment and that of the cemetery committee. He also 
acted as auditor. In 185 1, on account of ill health, he could 
not attend to his work as agent for some months and Frank- 
lin Forbes acted as his substitute. July 3, 1852, he resigned 
his position and went to Chicopee. He soon moved to 
Holyoke. According to the assessor's list of 1850, the mill 
was valued at one hundred and fourteen thousand three 
hundred and twenty-eight dollars, the machinery at sixt}^ 
thousand six hundred and seventy-two dollars. In 185 1, the 
company was employing about two hundred operatives and 



THE CLINTON COMPANY. 



247 



manufacturing one million two hundred thousand yards of 
coachlace and eight hundred thousand yards of tweeds, cas- 
simeres and pantaloon stuffs annually. H. N. Bigelow again 
became agent of the company August 14, 1852, at a salary of 
fifteen hundred dollars. 

From May 7, 1849, the machine shop was no longer fully 
united with the Clinton Company, but it had, in a measure 
at least, an independent existence. A charter was obtained 
for the Clintonville Machine Shop, and it was proposed that 
the proprietors of the Clinton Company adopt it and form a 
separate organization. Fifteen thousand dollars were paid 
for the machinery and tools. The establishment of the ma- 
chine shop by Palmer and Parker in 1852, led to the dissolu- 
tion of this company. The old building and tenements were 
leased. 

D. M. Ayer, who had been superintendent of the Clinton 
Company previous to March, 1854, resigned his position at 
that time and went to Maine. He was succeeded by A. S. 
Carleton. The report of a committee of investigation, made 
October 23, 1854, showed that the company had produced 
pantaloon stuffs during the previous five years to the amount 
of seven hundred and twent}- thousand nine hundred and 
sixty-three dollars, with a net loss of thirteen thousand dol- 
lars. In the same period there had been three hundred and 
ninety-one thousand eight hundred and ninety-four dollars' 
worth of coachlace manufactured, with a nominal profit of 
one hundred and seven thousand seven hundred and twenty- 
four dollars. But interest, ofifice expenses and so on had 
eaten up all this and left a net deficit for the mill of eight 
thousand two hundred and thirty-one dollars, in addition to 
depreciation in the value of machinery. 

As the Lancaster Mills paid a dividend from the manu- 
facture of ginghams, this business was introduced by the 
Clinton Company, and, in time, a large portion of the mill 
was devoted to it. Edwin Andrews, a native of Boylston, 
the son of Dr. Andrews, was the overseer of the gingham 



248 THE BIGELOW CARPET COMPANY. 

mill of the Clinton Company for several )'ears. He was 
afterwards in charge of rubber works at Easthampton and 
Chelsea and of cotton mills at Harrisburg, Charleston and 
Baltimore. He died at the latter place July 2i, 1888, at the 
age af sixty-seven. The whole of the coachlace machinery 
and the patent rights connected therewith were transferred 
to William H. Horstman & Sons of Philadelphia, January i, 
1857, for thirty thousand and five hundred dollars. Eighteen 
days later, the machine shop and some real estate south of 
Union Street was sold to the Bigelow Carpet Company for 
thirteen thousand six hundred and fifty-five dollars. Not- 
withstanding these sales, the company was assessed in 1857 
for one hundred and twelve thousand five hundred dollars, 
real estate, and eighty-seven thousand five hundred dollars, 
personal. September 27, 1858, E. B. Bigelow bought out all 
claims that the company had on the Brussels carpet looms 
for sixteen thousand one hundred and ninety-eight dollars 
and sixty-one cents. J. H. Vose followed A. S. Carleton as 
superintendent. The paymasters from the beginning, were 
A. S. Carleton, A. E. Bigelow, J. H. Vose, John G. Wright, 
Henry N. Bigelow, Walter M. Cameron. 

The war gave the death blow to the unprofitable company, 
and July 10, 1862, the business was finally suspended. The 
great rise in the price of the goods on hand and the ready 
disposal of the machinery and real estate enabled the stock- 
holders to get out of it with less serious loss than was ex- 
pected. The Sawyer's Mills property and the gingham 
looms were sold to the Lancaster Mills for fifty-five thou- 
sand dollars, and the tools, real estate and water privilege 
were sold to the Bigelow Carpet Company for forty-five 
thousand dollars. The sale was confirmed December ii,- 
1863, and action was taken to dissolve the company. 

The property of the Bigelow Carpet Company had grown 
by building and purchase so that in 1857 it was assessed for 
one hundred thousand dollars, real estate, and one hundred 
and fifteen thousand dollars, personal. The brick coal shed 



ENLARGEMENT. • 249 

three hundred feet in length was built by the three corpora- 
tions combined, in 1859. H. N. Bigelovv erected the build- 
ing now used as a court house for his personal office in 1859. 
The construction of the dye house and reservoir of the Car- 
pet Mill belongs to the year i860. Soon after the purchase 
of the real estate of the Clinton Company in 1863, steps were 
taken for great additions. Although the work was begun in 
March, 1864, it was two years before it was completed. The 
principal building was one hundred and eighty-seven feet in 
length, with a width of seventy-six feet at the south part and 
fifty at the north. It was three stories in height. This 
building was used mainly for making carpet worsted and 
blankets. The blankets were such as are now in common 
use, and they were made to use up the short wool unfit for 
Brussels carpeting. A tower was made at the northeast cor- 
ner of the mill which contained a bell weighing two thousand 
and seventy-six pounds and costing sixteen hundred dollars. 
In addition to the main building, there were: a wool sorting 
house, forty-two by seventy-five feet; a wool washing room, 
fifty-eight b}' forty-two feet; a blanket finishing building, 
seventy-five by forty-nine feet. The old spinning mill at 
this time was two hundred and eighty by forty-two feet, and 
had an engine of one hundred and twenty horse power. A 
new engine of one hundred and fifty horse power was ob- 
tained for the new part. 

Although this work was begun under the direction of 
Horatio N. Bigelow, it was not completed by him. The task 
was too great for energies that were already exhausted by so 
many years of almost superhuman toil. In 1864, his brain 
gave way. The next year, he went to Europe in company 
with his physician. His mental powers were never recov- 
ered, hovvever, and January 2, 1868, at the age of fifty-six, he 
died of softening of the brain, ending in paralysis. 

We have alread}' noted that H. N. Bigelow had been 
married four years when he came to Factory Village, and 
that the family first lived in the Plant house, now known as 



250 



LATER LIFE OF H. N. BIGELOW. 



the Parker house on Main Street. A few years later we find 
them living in a house built by Mr. Bigelow on High Street, 
now known as the Tyler house. The southern end of the 
Emory Harris farm had come into his possession and one 
lot after another was sold to the new settlers. The family 
lived for a short time in a corporation house on the corner 
of Union and Nelson Streets. After the success of the 
various corporations had become assured, he built the man- 
sion on Chestnut Street in 185 1-2, where he spent his last 
years. A daughter of the family died in 1864, just as she 
was entering womanhood. The two sons, Henry N. Bigelow, 
born October 6, 1839, and Charles B. Bigelow, born May 5, 
1849, after receiving their elementary education at home and 
studying in our High School, spent some time at the academy 
at Easthampton. Each of them had the tastes and aptitudes 
of their father and followed in his steps. As agents of the 
Carpet Mill, they have developed the work their father began 
and various other industrial, as well as municipal and religious 
institutions, have thriven under their fostering care. The 
wife and -mother, Mrs. Emily W. Bigelow, survived her hus- 
band many years. It was through her devotion to her home 
that the work of her husband and children was made possi- 
ble. In the early days of the Congregational Society and the 
various organizations connected therewith, no one was more 
earnest or efficient than she. In her later years, she was an 
invalid. She died January 16, 1892. 

Let us look back and see what the mechanical genius of 
E. B. Bigelow, cooperating with the executive talents of H. 
N. Bigelow, had done for the little village of three hundred 
inhabitants to which the brothers had come some thirty 
years before. The Clinton Company, originating in E. B. 
Bigelow's patent for weaving coachlace, after being de- 
veloped in the forties, through the labors of H. N. Bigelow, 
into one of the largest manufacturing concerns at that 
time in the state, had in the sixties been absorbed into the 
still larger corporations which owed their establishment to 



SUMMARY. 



251 



the same men ; the Quilt Mill, founded on the basis of the 
counterpane patent, still retained somewhat of the prosperity 
it had had twenty years before, when under the management 
of the Bigelows ; the Lancaster Mills, operating E. B. Bige- 
low's looms for weaving plaids, under a worthy successor to 
H. N. Bigelow, who had organized the plant, had become 
one of the strongest corporations in the country; the Bige- 
low Carpet Company, to which H. N. Bigelow had given 
the best energies of the last eighteen years of his life, had 
grown to vast dimensions; the Clinton Wire Cloth Compan}-, 
the last creation with which the Bigelows had blessed our 
town, was fast becoming the worth}' companion of our earlier 
industries; the machine shop, the foundry, the loom harness 
business, the gas works, all growing out of the enterprise of 
the same leaders, added their mite to the great total; mean- 
while, the town, owing its existence to the corporations, had 
reached such fair proportions that it had few rivals among 
the manufacturing towns of the world. 

The influence of H. N. Bigelow for good upon the com- 
munity was not confined to the mills. Although he acted as 
a director of the City Bank of Worcester, afterwards the 
City National Bank, from 1855, and as director of the 
Worcester Manufacturing Mutual Insurance Company from 
1857, and did his part as a citizen of the state and nation, 
yet this community was the center of all his labors and in- 
terests. He was far more directly associated with the life of 
the town than his brother. He served for six years on the 
school committee; he was the representative in the General 
Court during the first two years after the incorporation of the 
town; he gave the town the land for its common and fixed the 
conditions under which it grew into its present beauty; the 
whole system of streets in the business and residential center 
was laid out under his supervision; he was a most earnest sup- 
porter of the Bigelow Mechanics' Institute and the Bigelow 
Library Association; the post-office was established through 
his agency and for the first years, it was under his charge; 



252 LATER LIFE OF H. N. BIGELOW. 

many of our best citizens located here at his suggestion; he 
was the president of the Clinton Savings Bank from its or- 
ganization to his death; he was a director and vice presi- 
dent of the First National Bank of Clinton from the time it 
was incorporated to 1868; he was the chief agent in the es- 
tablishment of the Clinton House, our first hotel worthy of 
the name; it was largely through his efforts that the Wor- 
cester and Nashua Railroad, of which he became a director, 
passed through the town; he presented a building lot to the 
Baptist Societ)' and offered one to the Methodists, while he 
gave without stint of his energies and his means to the Con- 
gregational Society to which he belonged, finding time 
amidst all his other cares to act on building committees and 
serve for years as superintendent of the Sunday school. 
There was no department of life in the community in which 
his influence was not felt for good, and, during the formative 
period of the town, he was the acknowledged leader in every 
enterprise for its advancement. It is needless to attempt to 
make any statement concerning his ability, his untiring in- 
dustry, his noble character, for the mills and the town are a 
visible proof that he possessed them all in the highest 
degree. 

Although we have justly given to the Bigelows full credit 
for founding the leading industries of .Clinton, yet they had 
many co-workers, who ably seconded their efforts. Like all 
great organizers, they had the faculty of choosing suitable 
agents for executing that which they planned. Having 
made this choice, they had the further power of securing 
from each man the most efificient labor of which he was 
capable. Our history would be incomplete without some 
account of these co-workers. Many of them in later times 
conducted independent enterprises and must therefore be 
considered elsewhere. Foremost among these was J. B. 
Parker, who not only gave material expression to the ideas 
of E. B. Bigelow, but also furnished many valuable sugges- 



CLERKS AND BUILDERS. 



253 



tions of his own. Under him in the machine shop, as we 
have already noted, there were many young men such as A. 
C. Dakin, D. B. Ingalls and John J. Boynton, who afterwards 
became prominent citizens. In the office work, and in the 
management of the mills, men like A. S. Carleton and C. L. 
Swan, by their integrity, their painstaking accuracy, their 
clearness of statement and general business ability, did much 
to make financial success possible. All these and many 
others, scattered through the manufacturing departments, 
must receive attention elsewhere. Then there are many of 
their assistants who have been closely identified with the 
history of Lancaster Mills, who must be grouped under the 
agency of Franklin Forbes. Leaving all these aside, there 
are still a larger number who deserve extended notice, than 
our limits will allow us to consider. 

At the Carpet Mill, C. S. Patten was the first bookkeeper. 
He was a native of Maine, but came here from Hopedale. 
He was in the Lancaster Mills office before he went to the 
Carpet Mill. He was town clerk and also clerk of the Uni- 
tarian Society. He left Clinton before 1855. George Delano 
also worked in the office for a short time. He went to New 
Bedford. Henry M. Simpson, the clerk of the corporation, 
and private secretary of H. N. Bigelow, had a desk here 
from 1854 to 1858. Henry Kellogg, a director of the com- 
pany, was for a time a "subordinate manager." He built 
the house now occupied by A. A. Burditt. 

William T. Merrifield, who took the contract for building 
the mills and tenement houses of the Lancaster Mills Cor- 
poration, was born April 10, 1807. It is said that this con- 
tract was larger than any he had before taken. Mr. Merri- 
field resided in Worcester, and on the day when he was to 
meet the directors of the corporation to consider the con- 
tract for building, drove to Clintonville through a blinding 
snow-storm and almost impassible drifts to meet his engage- 
ment. The directors had not expected him in such a storm, 
and were strongly influenced by the force of character he 



254 



LATER LIFE OF H. N. BIGELOW. 



displayed in overcoming such obstacles to conclude their 
bargain with him. The price received for all his contracts 
here was over three hundred thousand dollars, and he spent 
several years in completing them. During a part of the 
time he was employed here, he drove back and forth between 
Clintonville and Worcester. He occupied the Parker house 
for a short time. He owned a large tract of woodland in 
Princeton and brought his building materials from thence, 
using over fifty teams for the purpose. 

After finishing his work here in 1848, he constructed the 
Merrifield buildings in Worcester, and thus became one of 
the largest real estate owners of that city. He was exten- 
sively engaged in cattle breeding, and was chiefly instrumen- 
tal in importing and breeding Jerseys. He served in both 
branches of the Worcester city government and in the legis- 
lature. He was president of the Worcester Horticultural 
Society, of the Worcester Agricultural Society, and of the 
Worcester County Mechanics Association, and held numer- 
ous other positions of trust and honor. His family mansion 
with its extensive grounds was among the finest in the city. 
He died December 27, 1895. Three children survived him. 

The brick work of these mills as well as that of the Clin- 
ton Company's and Bigelow Carpet Company's mills was 
done by Ezra Sawyer and his brother, Luke. Their brick 
kiln was near Mine Swamp Brook. These brothers had ex- 
tensive contracts outside of Clinton, among which was one 
for the state asylum at Utica, N. Y. Ezra Sawyer was for 
years a leading citizen of this community, and will be noticed 
elsewhere. 

Horace, Theodore and Milton Jewett were all sons of 
Benjamin Jewett of Bolton. The father was a carpenter. 
He moved to Sterling about 1824. All the sons received 
the training of the district schools and learned their father's 
trade. Horace, who was some eleven years older than The- 
odore, came to Factory Village soon after the Bigelows, and 
worked for them as a wood machinist. He had a house on 



OVERSEERS. 



255 



Mechanic Street. His wife inherited from her mother, Mrs. 
Churchill, the brick house, known as Jewett's Block, at the 
corner of Church and School Streets. Here, Mr. Jewett 
passed the better part of his life. Theodore Jewett, who was 
born July 26, 1820, married Esther L. Eaton, a sister of 
William Eaton, October 4, 1843. The)' had one son and two 
daughters. He came to Clintonville in the year of his mar- 
riage, to work as a wood machinist. He was in the employ 
of the Clinton Company until 1863, and then became a pat- 
tern maker for the Bigelow Carpet Company. He continued 
in their service until 1884. His family has always attended 
the Congregational Church. We shall have occasion to 
speak of his brother, Milton Jewett, in connection with the 
gas works. 

Horace Whitney and Robert S. Freeman were among the 
early workers in the machine shop. After a while, they left 
Clintonville and bought a farm on the edge of Sterling. 
Freeman sold out his share of the farm to Whitney and re- 
turned to this section. He owned a house on the southwest 
corner of Prospect and Walnut Streets. David Smith was 
another of these early workers. He helped make the looms 
of the Lancaster Mills, and when the looms were set up had 
charge of the weaving room for a short time. He afterwards 
went to Hampton, N. H., where he became a wheelwright. 

It would be impossible even to enumerate all the over- 
seers of the various mills, but there are some whom from 
prominence and length of service should receive brief men- 
tion. William Eaton worked in Shirley with H. N. Bigelow 
and followed him to Clintonville. After working for the 
Clinton Company for some years, he became the overseer of 
a weaving room at the Carpet Mill. He held this position 
for fifteen years, resigning in 1865. He afterwards lived in 
South Lancaster and then in Worcester, where he died Janu- 
ary 3, 1881, at the age of sixty-six years. 

Stillman Houghton was born in Harvard. He came to 
Clintonville from Shirley in 1839. He worked at the Coun- 



256 LATER LIFE OF H. N. BIGELOW. 

terpane and Coachlace Mills and was an overseer of the 
weave room under William Eaton, his brother-in-law. He 
went to Philadelphia when the coachlace looms were sold. 
He afterwards returned here and was an overseer in the 
Wire Mill. Later, he went into business in Worcester. He 
died April 26, 1889. 

John P. Buzzell was a native of Brome, Canada. He was 
born August i, 1828. He spent his youth on his father's 
farm in Canada. He attended the town schools. While 
still a youth he went to Lowell to work in the mills. He 
married Maria Morton of Low^ell. He came to Clinton in 
1850 to work as a second-hand for Stillman Houghton at 
the Coachlace Mill. In 1855, he went to Lewiston, Maine. 
He returned two years later to become overseer in a weav- 
ing room at the Carpet Mill. His first wife having died, he 
married Mary A. Freeman in 1862. He had two daughters 
by this marriage. He made valuable improvements in the 
Bigelow Carpet Loom, and in time became superintendent 
of the Carpet Mill. He died May 29, 1881. 

Allan Carswell, a Scotchman, was for many years from 
the time that the mills began, in charge of the winding room. 
John Neil, also Scotch, was the first designer. Freeman M. 
Gordon was for thirty-six years the engineer. He resigned 
in 1887. Henry Eddy, who was the first overseer of the 
cloth room, after some years moved to the West, where he 
became a prominent hotel keeper. Frank P. Holder, who 
followed John J. Boynton as overseer of the old weaving 
room, was a young man of remarkable ability. He after- 
wards went to Yonkers, N. Y., and is now agent of the large 
carpet mill there. John G. Heighway, a native of Kidder- 
minster, England, came to America in 1844, to Clinton in 
1850. He was in the employ of the Bigelow Carpet Com- 
pany for thirty-three years as a repairer of looms. He was 
a deacon in the Baptist Church and a member of the school 
committee of the town. He died February 21, 1884. 

Ebenezer W. Howe was born in Holden in 1817. He 




o 



^5 



PERSONAL MENTION. 



257 



came to Clinton in 1844. He was overseer of the spinning 
room of Lancaster Quilt Mill. Later, he was a baker in the 
brick building now owned by Dr. P. T. O'Brien. He was the 
" leading musician in town," and for some years chorister at 
the Congregational Church. He went to Worcester. He 
died September g, 1885. 

Caleb Sawyer was born in Boylston, March 21, 1810. He 
had charge of the spinning room of the old Quilt Mill in its 
early days. Later, he was in control of the blanket weaving 
department of the Bigelow Carpet Company and still later 
was over the fence department at the Wire Cloth Mill. He 
was a deacon of the Congregational Church. 

Peter Sawyer, a grandson of Moses Sawyer and a son of 
Peter Sawyer, was born in 181 1. He worked as a carpenter 
for the mills for some years, and afterward he worked inde- 
pendently. He died April 22, 1885. 

Charles F. Greene, a son of Levi Greene, born in Lancas- 
ter, was the overseer of wood repairs at the Carpet Mills, 
He worked at the mills from the beginning until his death, 
March 29, 1871. He was at the time of his death the Wor- 
shipful Master of Trinity Lodge of Free and Accepted 
Masons. 

John T. Wright, a native of Paisley, Scotland, came to 
America and to Clinton in 1850. He worked at the Lancas- 
ter Mills for a short time, but spent most of his life here in 
the employ of the Carpet Company, as a loom repairer. 
He died April 24, 1885. His son, Daniel, became agent of 
the Appleton Mills of Lowell. James Wright, a brother of 
John T., was overseer of the new weaving room at the Car- 
pet Mill. Both of these brothers were Baptists. Another 
John Wright was a dyer for the Clinton Company, and later 
in charge of the bleachery at the Quilt Mill. He died at 
Jamaica Plain, October ig, 1873, at the age of seventy-one. 

Samuel Osgood was a native of Milford, N. H. He came 
to Clintonville before 1845. He was for many years in the 
employ of the Clinton Company as a machinist. He died 
April 6, 1874. Edward C. Osgood is his son. 



258 LATER LIFE OF H. N. BIGELOW. 

Jonas Hunt was born in Boylston, Mass., April 29, 1810. 
He passed his childhood on his father's farm. He learned 
the trade of a machinist and worked in West Boylston and 
Providence. He married Eliza Parker in October, 1840. 
They had one son and three daughters. He came to Clin- 
tonville in 1842. He worked in the old machine shop of 
the Clinton Company. He helped to build the first looms 
for the Bigelow Carpet Company and was in its employ for 
many years. In 1847, he built a house, now 92 Main Street, 
where he lived until his death, August 25, 1892. He was an 
original member of the Congregational Church. 

William T. Freeman was born in Provincetown, Mass. 
He was educated in the schools of Worcester, where he passed 
his childhood. He learned the trade of his father, that of a 
carpenter. He was drawn to Clintonville in 1847 by the 
abundance of work offered to carpenters. For twenty-eight 
years he was in the employ of the Carpet Corporation. He 
has also had the oversight of many pieces of work in various 
places, where special skill was required. He married 
Martha A. Hastings in July, 1849. After her death, he mar- 
ried Ellen E. Stone in March, 1858. The family have been 
earnest workers in the Unitarian Society. We shall have 
occasion hereafter to notice his work as a soldier. 

Peter Stevenson was born at Bannockburn, Scotland, 
July 8, 1821. His father was a miner. He passed his child- 
hood in his native country. He learned the trade of a dyer, 
and having come to America was employed at Troy, N. Y. 
He married Christine Elliot, June 5, 1846. They had ten 
children, six of whom are living. He came to Clinton, 
September, 1852, and became the overseer of the dyeing de- 
partment of the Bigelow Carpet Company. Several of his 
sons have served the same company. He owns the estate 
on Pleasant Street which he now occupies. He is a Congre- 
gationalist. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT NO. lo. 

1838-1850. 

It will be remembered that the School District No. 10 of 
Lancaster, covering most of the territory now the more 
thickly settled part of Clinton, began building its first known 
school-house on what is now the south corner of Main and 
Sterling Streets, in 1800. In 1824, a larger house was built to 
accommodate the increased population, near the spot where 
Parson's blacksmith shop now stands. This building was 
still in use in 1838, and was considered a remarkably fine 
school-house for its day. Many of our older citizens recall 
this low brick structure on the eastern slope of the grove- 
covered hill and, asthey read these lines, may imagine them- 
selves again waiting as scholars at the door upon the north 
of the house, or seated on their high benches with their "well- 
hacked writing desks" before them, longing to be out under 
the trees which came closely up to the western windows. 

A few are still living who, as citizens, attended the meet- 
ings of the district, and took part in the discussions there. 
It is evident from the reports of these meetings, that citizens 
of those days understood clearly the business they had in 
hand and were capable of attending to it with great direct- 
ness and dispatch.* 

*The following record, unaltered in spelling and punctuation, is a 
fair sample of those kept by the successive clerks: — 

Jan I, 1838, the inhabitants of school district No. 10 in Lancaster, held 
their annual meeting and voted as follows; 



26o SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT NO. lo. 

The following is a list of those who served as "prudential 
agents" from 1838 to 1S47: 

Williams Green, January i, 1838, to April 21, 1838; James 
Stone, withdrawal of Williams Green, to January 7, 1839; 
William Burditt, January 8, 1839, to September 7, 1840; 
Williams Green, September 7, 1840, to January 3, 1842; 
James Pitts, January 3, 1842, to January 2, 1843; Levi Greene, 
January 2, 1843, to January i, 1844; Haskell McCollum, Janu- 
ary I, 1844, to January 6, 1845; Joseph B. Parker, January 6, 
1845, to January 4, 1847; Laban Bennett, January 4, 1847, to 
union with District No. ii, August 10, 1847. 

The following names, in addition to those of the pruden- 
tial agents, occur prominently in the records from 1838 to 
1847. They are given in the order of their appearance on 
the records: Jonas B. White, H. N. Bigelow, Henry Lewis, 
John Burditt, Nathaniel Rice, Lorenzo Whittemore, Samuel 
Dorrison, Joseph Rice, Jr., Nathan Burditt, John Burditt, Jr., 
William Taylor, Eben Pratt, Horace Jewett, H. W. Pitts, 
John Cunningham, E. K. Gibbs, Levi Houghton, J. P. Hough- 
ton, A. S. Carleton, Ezra Sawyer, C. G. Stevens, Alfred 
Knight, R. W. Holbrook, J. D. Otterson and G. H. Kendall. 



I St Chose James Stone Moderator. 

2d " Jonas B. White Clerck. 

3 " Williams Green Agent. 

4th Voted to have three months winter school. 

5 " to have six months summer school if there be money 

enough. 

6 " to have winter school begin ist monday Dec. 

7 " " summer •' " 3d " in April. 

8 " "a vacation of two weeks when the school is half 

done. 

9 Voted to buy five cords of hard wood fitted for the stove and put 
into the school house before the first of Sept. — what is necessary for this 
winter's use to be delivered and fitted for the stove immediately. Nathan 
Burditt Jr. has engaged to furnish the wood at $3.65 per cord. 

10 Voted to dissolve this meeting. 

Jonas B. White, Clerck. 



TEACHERS. 261 

In 1839, the crowded condition of the winter school 
forced the district to vote compliance with the law of the 
state requiring each school having over fifty scholars to have 
an assistant.* It was also voted during this year that the 
school-house might be used, under certain restrictions, for 
any meetings for moral, religious and intellectual improve- 
ment. In October, 1842, it was voted to enlarge and repair 
the school-house, and that the money should be raised by 
subscription. It was also voted to dispense with the services 
of an assistant during the ensuing winter term. In 1844, a 
new school-house for the use of the youngest scholars, was 
erected a little north of the old one at the cost of two hun- 
dred and twenty-five dollars and fifteen cents. The library 
provided for the district at an expense of thirty dollars by 
the town and state, received considerable attention during 
this year. Many of the books then obtained are still kept 
at the High School building. A. S. Carleton was the first 
librarian. 

The school committee's report of Lancaster, 1842-1843, 
the first published, was written by Rev. E. H. Sears. Com- 
menting on school affairs in District No. 10, it states: that 
the school of G. W. Burdett "consisted of eighty-eight differ- 

* The teachers from 1839 to 1847 are as follows: — 

Asa Wellington, 1839 and 1840, (Salome Pratt, assistant), eight weeks; 
Salome Pratt, summer of 1840, twenty-three weeks; Nathan Tirrell, 1840 
and 1841, (Salome Pratt, assistant), about twelve weeks; H. Stratton, 
summer of 1841, twenty weeks; George W. Pierce, 1841 and 1842, twelve 
weeks; Mary Ann Burditt, summer of 1842, twenty weeks; George W. 
Burdett, 1842 and 1843, (Nancy Bacon, assistant, three weeks), about six- 
teen weeks; Nancy Bacon, summer of 1843, sixteen weeks; George W. 
Burdett, 1843 ^^id 1844, twelve weeks; Emily M. Faulkner and Lydia 
Farnsworth, summer of 1844, ten weeks each; John Low, Jr., 1844 and 
1845, twelve weeks; Caroline M. Whitney, 1845 ^^id 1846, primary school, 
two terms, eight weeks each; Sabra Tolman, 1845 ^^^ 1846, higher school, 
two terms, summer and winter; Harriet Whitcomb, 1846 and 1847, pri- 
mary school; Lucy D. Lunt, 1846, higher school, summer term; George 
W. Warren, 1846 and 1847; higher school, winter term. 



262 SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT NO. lo. 

ent scholars, man)^ of them small;" that, in consequence of 
these numbers and the varying ages of the pupils, the teach- 
er "had a severe labor, — which was faithfully performed." 
An old register for the winter of 1843 ^^^ 1844, preserved by 
Dr. Burdett, enables us to look more closely into the nature 
of the school. The whole number of names of scholars en- 
tered, is ninety-five, but a considerable part of them attended 
only a short time. The average age of these scholars was 
about ten years. The oldest was nineteen, the youngest three. 
There were six only four years of age, eight more only five. 
The attendance was necessarily very irregular as so many of 
the children were so young and lived at such a distance from 
the school, to which they were obliged to walk over roads 
which were imperfectly cared for according to modern stand- 
ards. The average attendance was fifty-nine and five tenths. 
Half of these scholars brought their dinners, and after hastily 
devouring the contents of their pails, they spent the hour 
coasting down the hill through the pasture, from where Wal- 
nut Street now runs, to the lower factory pond. If the skat- 
ing was good, this occupied their attention. If the weather 
was bad, they stayed in the school-house, and jolly times 
they had of it. Of course, the school was ungraded, and 
there was the greatest possible diversity of attainment, so 
that the number of classes was legion, and the time of reci- 
tation for each necessarily short. Fortunately the variety 
of subjects taught was small. Eighty-two studied reading 
and spelling; sixty-four, arithmetic; thirty-five, grammar; 
twenty-nine, geography; twenty-seven, writing; eleven, nat- 
ural philosophy; three, book-keeping. The children of the 
old families, the Sawyers, Rices, Lows, Burditts, Harrises, 
Stones, Dorrisons, Pratts, and Lewises, with the Greenes, 
Houghtons and Jewetts, made up the greater part of the 
scholars. Among those who have since been prominent in 
the life of the community, we notice the names of A. A. Bur- 
ditt, C. C. Stone, James N. Johnson, Emory Harris, Albion 
Gibbs, E. N. Rice, Augustus Lowe, and C. F. Greene. 



CLINTON HIGH SCHOOL. 263 

Our Clinton High School was "a plant of slow growth," 
it had its roots in a small private school which was kept in a 
building erected for the purpose by Horatio N. Bigelow. 
This building was situated on Walnut Street, southwest of 
its corner with Church Street. It was a little wooden struc- 
ture, one story high. It was afterwards moved to where No. 
4 now stands, thence to High Street, where it was raised and 
another story, and used tor business purposes. It is the 
building now next south of the Clinton House Block. Mr. 
Bigelow started the school in order that his own children 
and those of other prominent families in the village might 
continue their studies under favorable influences. It was 
placed in charge of trustees, among whom were Rev. Charles 
Packard, Dr. G. M. Morse, Rev. J. M. R. Eaton, and Wm. T. 
Merrifield. This was in 1846. The school was first taught 
by Miss Adolphia Rugg. It naturally drew its pupils in a 
large measure from the schools of the neighboring districts, 
but this was an advantage, as these were overcrowded, and 
of course, the establishment of a High School tended to raise 
the standard of education. 

In 1847, ^^ arrangement was made whereby District No. 
II was united with District No. 10. At a meeting of the 
legal voters of this new District No. 10, held August ic, 1847, 
a set of rules and regulations was adopted; these provided 
that a prudential committee to consist of three persons, and 
a board of overseers of not less than seven members, should 
be chosen to carry into effect the school system which had 
been agreed upon. The prudential committee was to select 
and hire instructors, see that the school-houses were kept in 
repair, and have general supervision of financial matters. 
The board of overseers was to make all necessary rules for 
the government of the schools, determine the course of in- 
struction and the grading of the scholars. The scholars of 
the district were divided into three grades, called the First, 
Second, and Third. It is a noteworthy fact that graded 
schools were at that time unknown in the state except in a 
few of the larger cities. 



264 SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT NO. 10. 

To accommodate the rapidly increasing number of schol- 
ars, the "Brick House" on Main Street was repaired and 
altered. The primary school house was moved to the north 
part of the district, and a new school-house was built on 
"Harris Hill" (Berlin Road), and another near Lancaster 
Mills (Oak Street). In order to prepare these accommoda- 
tions, the district was assessed a tax of five hundred dollars, 
and secured a loan of thirty-five hundred. 

The course of studies seems not to have been fully settled 
upon until the following year. In the report of 1848 and 
1849, the following books are assigned for study in the 
respective grades: 

Primary School — Leavitt's First and Second Readers, 
North American Spelling-Book, Colburn's Mental Arithme- 
tic, Emerson's First Part, Smith's Introduction. 

Second School — Leavitt's Third Reader, North American 
Spelling-Book, Greenleaf's Introduction, Colburn's Mental, 
Morse's Geography, Well's Grammar. 

Third, or High School — American School Reader, Green- 
leaf's National Arithmetic, Colburn's Mental, Morse's Geog- 
raphy, Wells' Grammar, Algebra, Geometr)', Greek, Latin, 
French. 

There was considerable difficulty in getting the scholars 
thoroughly graded, but the result in the end was so satisfac- 
tory that, while there had at first been in the High School 
thirty classes or recitations for thirty-six pupils, there were 
in 1849. but thirteen classes for forty-three pupils. 

The Board of Overseers selected George Norman Bige- 
low to take charge of the Third School. During the five 
years which Mr. Bigelow taught in the village, he exerted a 
most important influence on the educational history of the 
community. He was born in Paxton in this county January 
14, 1823. He was the son of Silas and Sophia Bigelow and 
was only distantly related to the family of H.N. and E. B. Big- 
elow. At an early age, he was left an orphan and was placed 
in the charge of an uncle in Holden. Here, he worked on 



GEORGE NORMAN BIGELOW. 265 

the farm and attended the district school in the winter sea- 
son until his eighteenth year. After leaving Holden, he first at- 
tended the school taught by Josiah Bride in Berlin. He next 
entered the academy at Southbridge, then under the charge 
of A. P. Stone, late superintendent of schools in Springfield. 
Subsequently he fitted for college at the Manual Labor High 
School in Worcester, now the Worcester Academy. Nelson 
Wheeler was the principal. He never entered college on 
account of the lack of means, but devoted himself to teach- 
ing. 

He came to Clintonville in 1847 through the influence 
of a friend residing here. An arrangement was made with 
the committee whereby he was to be employed to teach the 
Third, or High School, of the district during the winter term, 
and during the remainder of the year, was to have the use of 
the school-house on the corner of Walnut and Church Streets, 
free of charge, for a private school. He began the school in 
May and during the first term received such slight encour- 
agement that he found by actual reckoning at the end of the 
first month that, under existing conditions, when he had paid 
his board bill, his net receipts for the term of eleven weeks 
would amount to seventy-five cents. He was not daunted, 
however, and in his own opinion he never was more inter- 
ested in his work or taught more faithfully. His work was 
so appreciated that, during the next term, the school-room 
was crowded and he was obliged to find a place for the over- 
flow in the vestry of the Congregational Church. The aver- 
age attendance of the school kept during the winter was 
forty-two and the work of Mr. Bigelow received the most 
hearty endorsement from the committee in charge. Mr. 
Bigelow's advertisements for scholars frequently appeared 
in the Courant. His rates were three dollars a term for Eng- 
lish branches and four dollars per term for languages. 

By a vote passed January 8, 1849, the building known as 
the Chapel, at the corner of Main and Water Streets, was 
leased b}' the district for the use of the Third School, while 



266 SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT NO. lo. 

the building on Walnut Street was devoted to the Second 
School. We learn from the report of this year that Mr. Big- 
elow's salary was fifty dollars per month, while that of the 
lady teachers in the lower schools was eighteen dollars per 
month. At a town meeting held April 3, 1848, the matter 
of establishing two high schools, one for Clintonville and 
one for the central village, was discussed, but no action was 
taken, on account of the opposition of those living in the 
outlying districts. But on April 2, 1849, i^ "^^^ voted to 
establish two high schools. At a meeting held June nth, 
the location of these schools was warmly discussed, and it 
was voted by a strong majority, that one of them should be 
located in Clintonville, and by a majority of only four, that 
another should be located at the center of the town. 

In his "Reminiscences of School Days" delivered before 
the Alumni of the Clinton High School, June 29, 1883, Mr. 
Bigelow related many incidents which occurred while he was 
the teacher in charge. Through these, we may catch a 
glimpse of the inner life of the school. During one of the 
winter terms, when several tall young men were attending, 
who, although their early education had been somewhat neg- 
lected, were tolerably well grounded in their respective 
denominational views, the lesson touched upon our ministers 
abroad. The question was "What kind of a minister was 
Franklin?" The text-book answer was "A minister at a 
foreign court, or a minister plenipotentiary." The young 
man, after deliberating a moment, looked up to the ceiling 
and replied, "I am not quite sure, but I think he was a Bap- 
tist." 

It was customary to have compositions and declamations 
on alternate weeks. As is usual, some of the pupils had a 
great aversion to declaiming before visitors. One day, dur- 
ing the period which was given to this exercise, some stran- 
gers entered the room. Now, if any one had a reasonable 
excuse and presented it in season, he might be released from 
speaking. Accordingly, the teacher was somewhat surprised 



GEORGE NORMAN BIGELOW. 267 

when one }'oung man responded, "Not prepared," when 
called upon to declaim. He seemed to have no suitable 
excuse, and when asked to repeat the piece he had declaimed 
a few weeks previously, he said that he had forgotten too 
much of it. Of course this was quite probable. When ques- 
tioned further he said that he would be willing to speak if 
he could remember an}'thing. Then the teacher told him 
that, if he would recite the alphabet, he would not require 
anything more of him. The young man hesitated, but finally 
decided that it was best to comply, and performed his part 
in a very dignified manner. 

Mr. Bigelow's management of the school was character- 
ized by amiability, united with firmness; his teaching, b)' his 
fidelity to his work, his thoroughness, and the ease with 
which he communicated knowledge. Many of our promi- 
nent citizens of to-day recall with a deep feeling of gratitude 
the influence he exerted upon them. 

On resigning his position in Clinton in the summer of 
1853, he went to Europe, where he studied two }ears at the 
University of Berlin and in Paris. He was pre-eminently suc- 
cessful in mastering the languages. In Greece, he traveled 
in company with his friend, Albert Harkness. On his return 
to America, he received the degree of Master of Arts from 
Brown University. In 1855, he became principal of the 
State Normal School at Framingham, where he remained 
eleven years. He then taught two years in Newburyport. 
He founded the Athenaeum Seminary, for young ladies, in 
Brooklyn, N. Y., in 1868. Here, he remained until his death, 
a period of nineteen years. He was twice married, to Frances 
Louise Babcock of Thetfort, Vt., November 25, 1856, and to 
Miss Fanny Whitcomb of Keene, N. H., December 6, 1866. 
He died on the 28th of August, 1887, at the age of sixty-four. 

In the four schools of the two lower grades, we find the 
following teachers in 1847 ^^^ 1848: Dorcas E. Farnsworth, 
Sophia B. Green, Caroline S. Burdett, Frances R. Hoadley, 
Mary A. Fisher, Mary A. Willard, Mary A. Tolman and Har- 



268 SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT NO. lo. 

riet Whitcomb. The latter was the only one who taught 
more than a single term. The average attendance in all the 
schools of the two lower grades was about one hundred and 
fifty, an increase of fifty per cent over that of the preceding 
)'ear. Ezra Sawyer, Sidne)^ Harris and H. N. Bigelow were 
on the prudential committee for this year. C. G. Stevens, 
A. S. Carleton, G. W. Burdett, G. M. Morse, J. D. Dtterson, 
C. M. Bowers, J. C. Hoadley and A. H. Parker were on the 
board of overseers. 

In the middle of the next year, 1848-9, the Second School 
was established, and put under the charge of Mary A. Fisher. 
The Second School took the building abandoned by the 
High School when it removed to the chapel. In the lower 
schools, Sophia B. Green, Mary A. Price and Ellen M. Ross 
taught one term each; Mary A. Tolman, Frances W. Willard, 
E. B. Wilder and Mary A. Boynton, two terms each. Only 
Mary A. Fisher and Harriet W. Whitcomb taught all four of 
the terms during which the schools were in session. The 
average attendance of the scholars was about fifty per cent 
of the number in the district within the school age. The 
prudential committee were the same for the year 1848-9, as 
during the preceding year; Rev. Wm. H. Corning, G. M. 
Morse, G. W. Burdett, Alanson Chace, C. M. Bowers, J. D. 
Otterson, N. A. Boynton, Gilbert Greene and H. A. Pollard 
constituted the board of overseers. 

Rev. J. M. R. Eaton, 1846-7; C. G. Stevens, 1847-8-9; G. 
W. Burdett, 1848-9; G. M. Morse, 1848-9; Rev. C. M. Bow- 
ers, 1849, served on the general school committee of the town 
of Lancaster. 

When Clinton was incorporated the property of the 
school district was made over to the town, which did not at 
first change the rules and regulations or the system of grad- 
ing adopted by the district in 1847. 



CHAPTER XVII. 
THE INCORPORATION OF CLINTON. 

For half a century, District No. lo had acted in school 
matters as a political unit, but, before the coming of the 
Bigelovvs, the village had been so slow in its development, 
and withal so poor and small, that no one among its citizens 
even anticipated that it would ever seek entire independence 
as a town. With the starting of the new industries, however, 
such a flood of young life was poured into the community, that 
higher ambitions were awakened and old restraints became 
irksome. Although there was not much bitterness of feel- 
ing between Clintonville and the rest of the town, yet there 
was that constant irritation that always accompanies enforced 
union in matters of appropriations, between a rapidly de- 
veloping village and one that is comparatively stationary. 
The people of Clintonville wanted improvements, of which 
the conservative farmers of other parts of the town did not 
realize the need, and for which they were therefore slow in 
appropriating money. 

We have seen how, in school affairs. District No. lo hav- 
ing absorbed District No. ii, established a graded system of 
schools and had an organization differing from that of the 
other districts. We have seen, too, how, from 1846, the citi- 
zens supported a "High School" by private tuition during 
the greater portion of the year, until, in 1849, ^^^o high schools 
were voted by the town, after an exciting contest. 

In the matter of building roads, although there was no 
fierce antagonism between the sections, yet there was con- 



2/0 



THE INCORPORATION OF CLINTON. 



siderable local irritation. Before 1838, the road from the 
"Old Common" to Boylston, the roads which are now Main 
and Water Streets, "the winding cart path" called Rigby 
Road, and the road to Boylston by the way of Deer's Horns 
had been the main public highways lying in the territory 
which is now Clinton. In 1838, the road had been built from 
what is now the Worsted Mill of the Bigelow Carpet Company 
to Pitts Mills, and, in 1844 and 1845, the location of this road 
had been altered after some discussion in town meeting, 
to the present course of Union, Mechanic, and Chestnut 
Streets. The bridge at the dam had been begun at the same 
time, by the town working in cooperation with the Lancas- 
ter Mills, but there had been none of that generous spirit 
shown by the town, which had characterized its dealings, 
when grants were made to John Prescott for establishing his 
corn and saw mills. The corporations were forced to do 
many things with private capital that might justly be ex- 
pected from the town, or be at the expense of waiting for its 
slow movements. The articles to build a road from Lancas- 
ter Mills to Harris Mills, repeatedly appeared in the war- 
rants for town meetings, and were either passed over, indefi- 
nitely postponed, or voted upon favorably and then recon- 
sidered, and even after the road had been finally voted on, 
the 7th of September, 1848, there was a lawsuit between 
the town and Sidney Harris upon the question of damages. 
The body of streets in what is now the center of Clinton, 
having been built by the citizens of the district, at their own 
expense, according to plans made by John C. Hoadley, at 
the instigation of H. N. Bigelow, were accepted July 29, 
1848. This vote covered the acceptance of Prospect, Church, 
Union, Nelson, School, High, Walnut and Chestnut Streets. 
The road from Horace Jewett's to Bolton was voted Decem- 
ber 23, 1844. That from Harris Bridge to Berlin and Boyl- 
ston was accepted April 7, 1845. June 27, 1845, it was voted 
to lay out a road by Sandy Pond to Boylston. Novembers, 
1847, it was voted to build a road from the East Village to 



REASONS FOR DIVISION. 



271 



Boylston. In the spring of 1848 there was much discussion 
in regard to a road from Clintonville to Sterling, to take the 
place of the old Rigby Road, but the people had to be satis- 
fied for the time being with the repair of the old road. No- 
vember 7, 1848, it was voted to build a road from Lancaster 
Mills Bridge to Boylston. With so many roads built in so 
short a time, it is no wonder that the people of the town 
should have felt that they were going too fast, and that 
they feared Clintonville would prove a mushroom growth, 
and that it might decline as rapidly as it had risen. 

The old town house of Lancaster was all too small for 
the large numbers who were accustomed to attend town 
meetings, and in April, 1849, ^ vote was passed, especially 
through the influence of Clintonville, that a new one should 
be built. The expense of building was seven thousand and 
twenty-three dollars, and the debt incurred looked large to 
the more conservative part of the people of Lancaster. 

Then there was the matter of a cemetery in Clintonville, 
which had been considerably agitated in the district, and in 
reference to which private enterprise had already taken the 
preliminary steps. There was also some discussion in re- 
gard to a fire compan}', although nothing of note had been 
done in this direction. 

As regards town officers, we have seen that Clintonville 
had been fairly represented on the school committee. Sid- 
ney Harris was one of the selectmen in 1838, Nathan Bur- 
ditt from 1842 to 1845, Ezra Sawyer from 1846 to 1847, Levi 
Greene in 1848. Ezra Sawyer had also been sent to the 
General Court as the Whig candidate, in 1847 ^^^ 1848. In 
1849, the election turned on the antagonism of the two sec- 
tions. Neither candidate having received enough votes to 
secure an election, it was voted, after several ballotings, to 
send no representative from the town for that year. 

Enough has been said to show the relation existing be- 
tween Clintonville and the town as a whole, and it is easy to 
realize the feeling of impatience which a young and enthusi- 



272 THE INCORPORATION OF CLINTON. 

astic community must have had, when held back and thwarted 
in its plans by its union with a naturally conservative people. 

Moreover, those who cansidered the question of finances, 
believed that Clintonville would pay to the town in taxes in 
the coming years far more than it would receive back in ap- 
propriations, for it had only one-fifth of the area of the town, 
and a compact population can support its roads and schools 
much more cheaply than a scattered one. Besides, it had 
only two out of the ten bridges, which had always cost so 
much for repairs for damages from spring freshets, and only 
a small percentage of the paupers. 

At a town meeting, November 7, 1848, the subject of 
dividing the town so that Clintonville should form a separate 
township was considered and referred to a committee to re- 
port at a future meeting. This committee consisted of Elias 
M. Stillwell, James G. Carter, John H. Shaw, Jacob Fisher, 
Horatio N. Bigelow, Ezra Sawyer, Sidney Harris, Charles G. 
Stevens and Jotham D. Otterson. 

October 29, 1849, ^ meeting of the citizens of No. 10 
School District was held in the vestry of the Congregational 
Church, for the purpose of considering the subject of a 
division of the town. H. N. Bigelow was made chairman, 
and G. M. Morse secretary. C. G. Stevens gave some of the 
reasons why Clintonville should become a town. The vote 
on the question, "Shall the town be divided?" was then 
called for. With the exception of one, all voted in the 
affirmative. The following committee, C. G. Stevens, Sid- 
ney Harris, J. B. Parker, H. N, Bigelow, and Alanson Chace 
were chosen to do all the business in connection with the 
division, the terms and line of separation being left to their 
discretion. 

At a meeting of the citizens of Lancaster, held Novem- 
ber 12, 1849, ^ majority and a minority report from the com- 
mittee appointed in November of the previous year, were 
presented; both of these reports were "laid on the table.' 
The majority report, favored by all the Clintonville members, 



REPORT ON DIVISION. 



273 



C. G. Stevens, Sidney Harris, Ezra Sawyer, H. N. Bigelow 
and J. D. Otterson, was read by their chairman, C. G. Stevens. 
In as far as it contains the only official statement of the 
reasons for division, it is given in full in the main body of 
this text. 

REPORT. 

"After much time spent in discussion, the committee 
were of the opinion that the result of their deliberations 
should mainly depend upon the facts which they might find 
relating to the three questions, or propositions, to wit: 

" First. How many citizens of Lancaster desire a division 
of the town? 

"Second. What division line is desired? And 

"Third. What terms of separation are proposed? 

"In answer to these questions, your committee find, first, 
that the citizens of School District No. 10, or Clintonville, — 
a school district numbering within its limits more than 
twenty-seven hundred inhabitants, or, at least, one-third 
more than the whole of the remaining portion of the town ; 
a village containing taxable property to an amount nearly 
one-half larger than is to be found in the rest of the town, — 
a district numbering in May last, sixty-nine more ratable 
polls than were returned from the whole remaining part of 
the town, — are nearly unanimous in their desire for a division. 

" Second. While those who desire a division do not insist 
upon any particular line of separation, they prefer one which 
shall commence on the westerly line of the town, at a town 
bound between Lancaster and Sterling on the Red Stone 
Road and near Eliphas Ballard's, and run from thence South 
75 deg. 42 min. East to the easterly line of the town, striking 
the Bolton line at a point two hundred eighty-nine 56-iOOth 
rods from the town bound which is a corner of Bolton, Ber- 
lin, and Lancaster. 

"While your committee could not but consider this a 
most natural line of division, separating the town, as it does. 



274 



THE INCORPORATION OF CLINTON. 



just at the point where the long, narrow tongue of land, which 
marks the southern portion of Lancaster, terminates; and 
from whence, proceeding northerly, the territory rapidly 
widens; they also believe this to be a favorable division line 
for other reasons. 

"First; because the line itself running mostly through 
uncultivated and wooded lands, does not seriously injure any 
of the farms which it divides. Next; because it divides the 
town at such points as to leave to the south of it very few of 
the citizens save those dwelling within the limits of School 
District No. lO; and of those few, several desire to be asso- 
ciated with School District No. lO; and all are so situated 
that their business communication with Clintonville is more 
easy and natural than with Lancaster proper. And, because, 
while a more southerly line would sever District No. lO, and 
leave to the north of it citizens of Clintonville, and those 
whose associations must naturally be with that village; a 
more northerly line would not only divide farms badly, but 
would leave to the south of it many citizens whose business 
and other associations are, and must naturally be, with the 
old town. 

"Your committee, therefore, are of the opinion that no 
line could be drawn from east to west across the town of 
Lancaster which would better favor the wishes of the citizens 
living in its vicinity, or would leave the portions of the town 
either side of it better fitted for separate townships, than the 
one proposed. 

" In answer to the last question, your committee find that 
the citizens of Clintonville desire a division upon any equit- 
able terms, and are ready, and earnestly wish to co-operate 
with the citizens of the old town in a submission to referees, 
or in any other measures that may be deemed best, to ascer- 
tain and arrange suitable terms upon which the separation 
shall be consummated. Your committee are of opinion that 
the foregoing facts and statements, when considered in con- 
nection with the local position of Clintonville, constitute 



REPORT ON DIVISION. 



75 



reasons fully sufficient in themselves to justify a report in 
favor of a division of the town; but they feel that they shall 
not have performed the duty assigned them to the accept- 
ance of their fellow townsmen unless they present to the 
town, or at least allude in their report to the reasons or causes 
which move the citizens of Clintonville, and with whom in 
these views your committee heartily coincide, to desire a 
separation at any place or upon any terms. 

"The committee do not propose, however, to do more 
than barely allude to these reasons, because, first, they have 
already been widely disseminated by individual discussion, 
and, also, because they will probably be presented to the 
town in another form, better and more fully than could be 
done in any report of any reasonable length. They are, in 
brief, as follows: 

"Clintonville is a manufacturing village. Lancaster 
proper is an agricultural town, with only such branches of 
the mechanic arts as are ordinarily to be found in country 
towns. 

"From this difference in occupation arise different views 
and feelings, — distinct, separate, individual wants, and inter- 
ests entirely diverse. On this account, alone, the inhabitants 
of Lancaster and Clintonville have little or nothing in com- 
mon. They cannot think alike, and they have no natural 
sympathy with and for each other. And this difference of 
thought and feeling and consequent interest ever has and 
ever must exist between agricultural and manufacturing 
towns. The population of Lancaster is comparatively scat- 
tered; that of Clintonville, nine-tenths of her population liv- 
ing within the limits of one mile square. This difference 
again creates different wants and separate interests, among 
which the regulation and management of the public schools 
stand conspicuous. 

" Clintonville, could she, as a separate town, impose taxes 
upon her own citizens and property, for educational purposes, 
could receive and fully enjoy the benefits of a school system 



2/6 THE INCORPORATION OF CLINTON. 

believed to be the best ever devised, but which owing to the 
widely scattered population, would be at least of doubtful 
utility to the rest of the town. 

"The subject of our public schools has already been pro- 
ductive of much contention and excited feeling among the 
citizens of different parts of the town, and this, your commit- 
tee believe, will only cease when a separation shall have been 
made. The location of the public buildings, and the holding 
of meetings for the transaction of town business at Lancas- 
ter Center are reasons of importance which favor a division. 
"Because, first, Clintonville from the density of its popu- 
lation is peculiarly adapted to receive benefit from public 
lectures, and meetings upon matters of common interest. 
They have no public hall, and probably never can have one 
until they shall be able to tax themselves and their property 
for its cost. The location of the Town Hall at a distance of 
three miles from the village, completely deprives them of 
the privilege of its daily use, and of all real enjoyment of it. 
And, because, from the nature of their occupation, attend- 
ance upon town meetings held at Lancaster Center, subjects 
the voters from Clintonville to an actual monied tax, in addi- 
tion to the loss of time. 

" Comparatively few of the voters living in Lancaster 
proper at a distance from the Town Hall, but have their 
horses and carriages or other means of conveyance, and can 
attend town meetings without expense, save loss of time, 
while voters living in Clintonville, almost to a man, must 
pay money for the means of getting to town meetings or 
must remain at home. And this monied tax, coming upon 
a class of our fellow citizens who must labor constantly for 
their bread, and whose earnings will not sufifice for more than 
the necessities and comforts of life, is in itself a heavy bur- 
den and one only to be removed by a division of the town, 
or a removal of the public buildings and town meetings to 
Clintonville. 

"There are now in School District No. lo over three hun- 



MINORITY REPORT. 277 

dred voters. The expense to each attendance upon a single 
town meeting cannot be estimated at less than twenty-five 
cents, and the number of town meetings, judging from the 
last two years, not less than six during the year, thereby 
showing an annual tax upon the voters of Clintonville, pro- 
vided they attend the meetings, of over four hundred and 
fifty dollars, all which would be saved to them by a division 
of the town, such as they desire. But the committee will 
not add to the length of this report by alluding to other 
causes which actuate those who desire the town to be divided. 
And, in conclusion, they can only say that they have endeav- 
ored to give to the whole subject such careful and candid 
consideration as its importance, and their duty to their fel- 
low townsmen demanded, and that they are decidedly of the 
opinion that for the good and permanent interests of the 
whole of the inhabitants of Lancaster and Clintonville, this 
town should be divided. 

C. G. Stevens. 

Ezra Sawyer. 

J. D. Otterson, 

Sidney Harris. 

H. N. Bigelow. 
""Lancaster, Nov. 12, 1849." 

The " Minority Report " stated that the town of Lancaster 
had just built a new town house, which would be compara- 
tively useless in case of division; that the regular number of 
town meetings was three; that, although Clintonville urges 
that it wishes to take charge of its schools, it has had as 
much charge of them as it would have if it were a town by 
itself. The interests of the two villages, although they differ 
in occupation, are common, as both need roads, bridges, 
schools, and town oflficers. This report complains that some 
on the western division line do not wish to be cut off from 
their old associations, and it therefore advises another divi- 
sion line if a separation is to take place. 

There was much private discussion concerning a division 



278 THE INCORPORATION OF CLINTON. 

of the town. In the Courant of January, 1850, a paper by 
Rev. W. H. Corning was published. He stated: first, that it 
had never happened that a manufacturing village having the 
largest number of voters, was willing to remain subordinate, 
and if Clintonville remained united to Lancaster, the town 
business must, in time, come to this section; that Clinton- 
ville should have a name and a "local habitation, and not be 
hidden in Lancaster and unknown;" that we ought to part 
with the kindest of feelings, yet already there is some bitter- 
ness of feeling, and this will be apt to increase in the future; 
public improvements which come now from private subscrip- 
tions, could, after division, be raised by tax. 

This paper was answered in the Courant of February 8, 
1850. The answer declared that Lancaster had almost uni- 
versally granted the privileges that Clintonville had asked 
of her; that the corporations and many of the richest land 
owners were not in favor of a division; that it was mostly 
urged by those who were dependent on the corporations for 
their employment; that the population of Clintonville was 
constantly changing, and in a few years there might be only 
a few who would desire a division. 

These reports and papers will sufficiently indicate the 
nature of the discussions heard everywhere on the streets 
and in the stores. These ideas were briefly embodied in a 
petition to the General Court.* 

* To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Common- 
wealth of Massachusetts in General Court assembled : 
The undersigned, citizens of Lancaster, in the County of Worcester, 
legal voters, respectfully represent that a manufacturing village called 
Clintonville, has recently sprung up in the south part of said town, con- 
taining already a population of nearly three thousand persons, whilst its 
favorable location with the amount of capital invested in manufactures, 
give assurance of large increase; that the inhabitants of Lancaster pro- 
per and of Clintonville have separate and distinct interests and wholly 
different business associations; that the distance from the center of the 
town renders it expensive, while their occupation makes it highly incon- 
venient for citizens of Clintonville to meet with the other citizens of 



TERMS OF DIVISION. 



279 



At a meeting of the citizens of Clintonville, held Febru- 
ary 9th, a new line of division was submitted, discussed, and 
approved. This change was made because the citizens of 
the Deer's-Horns district preferred to remain with the old 
town. It left a long, narrow, strip of land between Clinton- 
ville and Sterling, in the possession of Lancaster. 

The final decision of the question as to whether Lancaster 
should oppose the division or not came on the 15th of Feb- 
ruary, 1850. Some expected bitter opposition and an excit- 
ing discussion, but better counsel prevailed, and a committee 
of the citizens of the older part of the town, consisting of 
John G. Thurston, Jacob Fisher, Silas Thurston, Henry Lin- 
coln and Nathaniel Wilder was appointed to decide with 
the Clintonville committee before mentioned, what terms of 
division ought to satisfy the town of Lancaster to consent 
not to oppose the division of the town. This committee 
unanimously reported in substance, as follows: That the old 
town of Lancaster should have all the property of the town 
within its limits, after the division; that Clintonville should 
maintain and support, forever, all paupers now supported by 
the town who may have gained a legal claim upon the town 
by reason of birth or residence within the limits of Clinton- 
ville, or who may, in like manner, hereafter make good such 
claim; that the inhabitants of Clintonville shall pay to the 
town of Lancaster the sum of ten thousand dollars, in yearly 
installments of one thousand dollars each, with interest 
thereon, — the interest to be paid semi-annually, — which sum 
shall be in full for their proportion of the present town debt; 
that the line of division be as proposed by C. G. Stevens; 
that the substance of the articles shall be stated in the act 
of incorporation. These terms of agreement were then sub- 
mitted to the meeting for approval or rejection, and were 



Lancaster, as they are now required to do, to hold elections and for oth- 
er municipal purposes. * * * 

Chas. G. Stevens, and others. 



28o THE INCORPORATION OF CLINTON. 

accepted by nearly, if not quite, a unanimous vote. A com- 
mittee was then chosen to carry into effect the terms of the 
report. This committee consisted of Henry Wilder, Rev. 
Benjamin Whittemore, and John G. Thurston. 

The giving of ten thousand dollars to Lancaster seemed 
an unnecessary piece of extravagance, but it is doubtful if 
Clinton could have been set off at this time if Lancaster had 
opposed it. The annual interest of this sum was much less 
than the excess of the amount of taxes collected from Clin- 
tonville over the amount laid out in that section. Henry 
Wilder, indeed, feeling that Lancaster had made a poor bar- 
gain, opposed the division before the legislature, but as the 
town had voted not to oppose the division, his opposition 
had little influence. 

The following is the act of incorporation : — 

"COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. 
"IN THE YEAR ONE THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED AND FIFTY. 

'^An Act to Incorporate the Town of Clinton. 

"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 
tives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of 
the same, as follows: 

''Section i. All that part of Lancaster, in the county of 
Worcester, which lies southerly of the following described 
line, viz: Beginning at a monument on the east line of the 
town bound which is a corner of Bolton, Berlin and Lancas- 
ter, and running thence North 65 deg. 30 min. West 5 18. 11 
rods to a bound near the railroad bridge at Goodrich's Hill; 
and thence South 48 deg. 30 min. West 783 rods to a town 
bound on the westerly line of said town near the Elder farm, 
is hereby incorporated into a separate town by the name of 
Clinton, — and the said town of Clinton is hereby vested with 
all the powers, privileges, rights and immunities, and subject 
to all the duties and requisitions to which other towns are 
entitled and subjected by the Constitution and Laws of this 
Commonwealth. 



ACT OF INCORPORATION. 281 

''Sec. 2. The inhabitants of the town of Clinton shall be 
holden to pay all State, County, and Town taxes legally 
assessed on them before the passage of this act, and also 
shall be holden to pay their proportion of State and County 
taxes that may be assessed on them previously to the tak- 
ing of the next state valuation; said proportion to be 
ascertained and determined by the town valuation of the 
town of Lancaster next preceding the passage of this act, to 
the treasurer or collector of the town of Lancaster; and all 
moneys now in the treasury of said town, or that may here- 
after be received from taxes now assessed, shall be applied 
to the purpose for which they were raised and assessed, the 
same as if this act had not passed. 

''Sec. J. Said towns of Lancaster and Clinton shall be 
respectively liable for the support of all persons who now do, 
or shall hereafter, stand in need of relief as paupers, whose 
settlement was gained by, or derived from, a settlement 
gained or derived within their respective limits. 

"Sec. 4. All the corporate property now owned by the 
town of Lancaster shall remain the property of said town; and 
the town Clinton shall pay to the treasurer of the said town of 
Lancaster the sum of ten thousand dollars by ten equal an- 
nual payments, with semi-annual interest, the first payment 
to be made one year after the passage of this act, which sum 
shall fully discharge the town of Clinton of and from all 
debts and charges now due and owing from said town of 
Lancaster, or which hereafter may be found due and owing, 
by reason of any contracts, engagements, judgment of court 
or any matter or thing whatsoever now or heretofore entered 
into or existing. 

"Sec. 5. Any justice of the peace within and for the 
county of Worcester may issue his warrant, directed to any 
principal inhabitant of the town of Clinton, requiring him to 
notify and warn the inhabitants thereof, qualified to vote in 
town affairs, to meet at the time and place therein appointed, 
for the purpose of choosing all such town officers as towns 



282 THE INCORPORATION OF CLINTON. 

are by law authorized and required to choose at their annual 
meeting. And said warrant shall be served by publishing a 
copy thereof in some newspaper printed in said Clinton, and 
by posting up copies thereof, all attested by the person to 
whom the same is directed, in two public places in said town, 
seven days, at least, before such time of meeting. Such jus- 
tice, or in his absence, such principal inhabitant shall preside, 
until the choice of moderator in said meeting. 

"The Selectmen of Lancaster shall, before said meeting, 
prepare a list of voters in said town of Clinton, qualified to 
vote at said meeting, and shall deliver the same to the per- 
son presiding at such meeting, before the choice of modera- 
tor thereof. 

^''Sec. 6. This act shall take effect from and after its 
passage. 

"House of Representatives, March 14, 1850. 

" Passed to be enacted. 

"ENSIGN H. KELLOGG, Speaker. 

"In Senate, March 14, 1850. 
" Passed to be enacted. 

"MARSHALL P. WILDER, President. 

"March 14, 1850. 
"Approved. 

"GEO. N. BRIGGS. 

"Secretary's Of.fice, March 14, 1850. 

" I hereby certify the foregoing to be a true copy of the 

original act. 

"W. B.CALHOUN. 

The boundary lines of Clinton on the east, south and 
southwest are the same as those of Lancaster were. These 
lines had been determined by acts: incorporating Bolton, 
June 27, 1738; annexing six square miles of Lancaster to 
Shrewsbury, February 18, 1781; incorporating Sterling, April 
25, 1781; setting off the estate of Peter Larkin to Berlin, 
then part of Bolton, February 8, 1791. The latter act caused 



THE TOWN OF CLINTON. 283 

the irregularity in the southeastern portion of the town 
boundary. 

Thus, one hundred and ninety-seven years after the first 
enterprise was started within its borders, and seven years 
after the period of the rapid development of its industries 
began, Clinton became a town. The ease with which the 
separation was effected arose from the skillful management 
of those who had charge of the business, and to these gentle- 
men great credit is due. The citizens of both Lancaster and 
Clinton were satisfied with the conditions of division, and 
from the first, the most cordial relations existed between the 
two towns. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

FIFTEEN YEARS OF MUNICIPAL LIFE. 

The town of Clinton at the time of its incorporation had 
according to the report made by the assessors a population 
of two thousand seven hundred and seventy-eight. The 
United States census, taken the same year, gives an enroll- 
ment of three thousand one hundred and eighteen. On ac- 
count of the employment of so many females in the mills 
the number of males in town was small as compared with 
the population. As there were many immigrants who had 
not been naturalized, the number of voters was small com- 
pared with the number of males. This ratio would have 
been still smaller if there had been the usual proportion of 
children in town. The youth of so many of the inhabitants 
and the consequent fact that most of them had not as yet 
acquired homes, made the number of property holders small 
as compared with the number of voters. This was more 
than balanced as regards the rate of taxation by the fact 
that a large proportion of the money raised from property 
came from the corporations. 

Not only the community as a whole, but also the indi- 
viduals of which it was composed and the business interests 
upon which it depended, were as yet in their untried youth. 
It was a time of beginnings with them all. Economy in the 
present for the sake of a competence in the future was the 
motto of private life, but, at the same time, there was the 
spirit of enterprise and the full recognition of the fact that 
any false economy in laying the foundations of municipal 



FIRST OFFICERS. 285 

institutions meant a great increase of expense in the future. 
Therefore a far-seeing liberality prevailed. The new town 
had some school property, roads and bridges, with a conse- 
quent debt of fourteen thousand five hundred and twenty- 
five dollars. Provision for the needs of the poor, a place of 
burial and protection against fire were lacking and demanded 
immediate attention. Such other needs as a town hall, town 
water and sewerage were of necessity postponed to a distant 
future. 

The first town meeting was held April ist in the vestry 
of the Congregational Church. C. G. Stevens was chosen 
moderator, an office to which he was elected for forty-three 
successive annual meetings. The object of this meeting was 
"To choose all necessary officers for the ensuing year." A 
caucus had been held on the 28th of March to nominate a list, 
of officers, but the voters broke away from the list prepared 
in several cases. The list of those chosen is as follows: 
Clerk, A. S. Carleton; Selectmen, Ezra Sawyer, Samuel 
Belyea and Edmund Harris; Treasurer and Collector, Sidney 
Harris; Assessors, Alfred Knight, Joseph B. Parker and Ira 
Coolidge; Overseers of the Poor, James Ingalls, Alanson 
Chace, Nathan Burdett; Constables, Ira Coolidge and Wil- 
liam Fleming. April 15th, E. K. Gibbs was added to the 
list of constables.* 

*LIST OF TOWN OFFICERS TO 1865. 

Clerks. 
A. S. Carleton, 1850-53. Artemas E. Bigelow, 1854-60. 

Charles S. Patten, 1853-54. H. C. Greeley, 1860-65. 

Treasurers. 
Sidney Harris, 1850-51, 55-56. Alfred Knight, 1851-55, 56-65. 

Selectmen. 
Ezra Sawyer, 1850-52. Nelson Whitcomb, 1852-53, 55-56. 

Samuel Belyea, 1850-51, 56-57. Alanson Chace, 1852-53. 

Edmund Harris, 1850-51. Jonas E. Howe, 1853-55, 58-60. 

Calvin Stanley, 1851-52. Abel Rice, 1853-56. 

Oilman M. Palmer, 1851-55, 56-57. Josiah Alexander, 1855-56. 



286 



FIFTEEN YEARS OF MUNICIPAL LIFE. 



A meeting was held April 15th, at which preliminary 
steps were taken to provide for the most pressing needs of 
the new town. A committee was appointed to prepare a set 
of by-laws, rules and regulations. This committee consisted 
of C. G. Stevens, C. W. Blanchard, H. N. Bigelow, J. T. Dame, 
William Stearns, Ezra Sawyer, Sidney Harris, J. B. Parker 
and Haskell McCollum. The report as presented by this 
committee was adopted by the town August 5th, and the by- 
laws were but slightly modified for many years. 

The selectmen asked for and received an appropriation 
of eight thousand two hundred dollars for expenditures for 
the current year.f When we consider the needs of the new 
community, this appropriation seems small, yet at the close 
of the year there was a net balance in favor of the town of 
three hundred and seventy-one dollars and eleven cents. 



Horace Faulkner, 1856-57, 58-59. Charles W. 


Worcester, 1861-64. 


David Wallace, 1857-58. 


P. 


L. Morgan, 186 


'I-63. 


Joshua This 


sell, 1857-61. 


Elisha Brimhall, 1 


[863-65. 


Gilbert Greene, 1857-58, 


60-61. A. 


A. Burditt, 1863-65. 


James F. Maynard, 1859-63. B. 


R. Smith 


., 1864-65. 




Valuation. 


Amount 
Raised by 
Taxation. 


Rate. 


Polls. 


Debt. 


ti850 


$1,262,803 


$9,059 33 


7- 


575 


$14,525 00 


1851 


1,184,931 


16,660 88 


8. 


593 


13,900 00 


1852 


1,312,460 


11,307 50 


8.50 


577 


16,900 00 


1853 


1,254,700 


22,320 94 


17.00 


643 


16,800 00 


1854 


1,558,840 


11,929 90 


7- 


674 


14,500 00 


1855 


1,607,991 


13,428 06 


7.70 


712 


14,500 00 


1856 


1,736,823 


18,765 41 


9.70 


788 


14,500 00 


1857 


1,766,181 


16,661 39 


8.80 


745 


14,500 00 


1858 


1-655.723 


14,988 67 


8.20 


782 


14,500 00 


1859 


1,610,051 


14,886 25 


8.50 


781 


14,500 00 


i860 


1 ,690,692 


14,851 92 


8. 


879 


14,500 00 


1861 


1,722,532 


15,969 54 


8.50 


885 


19,500 00 


1862 


1,686.242 


16,868 18 


9- 


846 


26,064 71 


1863 


I.715.653 


20,320 19 


II. 


724 


29,022 18 


1864 


1,871,000 


22,115 00 


II. 


767 


34,190 82 


1865 


1,860,763 


27,776 68 


14, 


863 


39,484 20 



THE CEMETERY. 287 

Expenses connected with the separation from Lancaster and 
the town debt consumed one thousand five hundred and 
fifty-three dollars and eighty-six cents, leaving six thousand 
two hundred and seventy-five dollars and three cents, of 
which three thousand two hundred and forty-nine dollars 
and seven cents went to permanent investments, and three 
thousand and twenty-five dollars and ninety-six cents to cur- 
rent expenses. A tax rate of seven dollars per thousand, or 
about an average of one dollar per individual for permanent 
investments and another for current expenses does not seem 
very alarming, especially, when the indebtedness was less 
at the end of the year than at the beginning. 

The cemetery question also received consideration at 
this meeting of April 15th. A "Cemetery Corporation" had 
before existed, but little action of permanent importance 
had been taken. A committee of five was chosen by the 
town to procure a lot of land for a cemetery, after conferring 
with the "Cemetery Corporation." This committee was 
also given the power to sell the choice of lots at auction. 
August 5th, this committee was instructed to purchase more 
land if suitable terms could be obtained. After various 
additions had been made and some of the land had been 
given up to the poor farm, the cemetery contained in 1853 
some over thirteen acres, which cost nine hundred and 
eighty-four dollars and three cents. This cemetery was 
called Woodlawn. The grounds were fenced in in 1853. A 
receiving tomb was completed in 1854. From year to year, 
public as well as private improvements were made in the 
grounds until the western hillslope was covered with verdant 
lots and shady walks. The Catholics have a burial ground 
of their own near Sandy Pond where their dead are laid. 

At the town meeting of April 15, 1850, five hundred dol- 
lars were appropriated for the organization of the fire 
department. Before this, the mills had done something in 
their private capacit}' for self-protection. Even as far back 
as the time of Poignand & Plant there had been a fire com- 



288 FIFTEEN YEARS OF MUNICIPAL LIFE. 

pany connected with their factory. There had been consid- 
erable discussion concerning a public company in Clinton- 
ville during the months preceding the separation, but 
nothing definite had been accomplished. So the real origin 
of the fire department of the town is found in this appro- 
priation. On August 5th there was another appropriation 
of one thousand dollars for a fire engine. There was great 
enthusiasm in the organization of the fire company, which 
was named "Torrent Engine Company No. i," and many of 
the most prominent citizens became members. Henry But- 
terfield was made foreman. This organization was com- 
pleted September 18th. An engine house was built on the 
school-house lot on Church Street at a first cost of six 
hundred and seventy-five dollars and sixty cents. The fire 
engine, which was a "Hunneman," arrived on the loth of 
December. The cost was one thousand and thirty dollars 
and seventy-six cents. Through an act of the legislature, a 
fire department was established in March, 1851. Franklin 
Forbes was made chief engineer. He wrote all reports made 
until 1859. 

The company was not called out to any considerable fire 
until a year after the engine came, and then it was found 
that the box was half full of ice so that nothing could be 
done. On May 5, 1852, the company voted to dissolve. 
Some had enrolled their names as members of the company 
who were unwilling to drill. May 15th, the company was 
re-organized with only working members. A committee ap- 
pointed to consider the question of a supply of water for 
fires reported May 7, 1853: "After careful investigation with 
the assistance of an engineer in making surveys and esti- 
mates, they find themselves unable to report to the town any 
plan for supply of water that seems to them practicable." 
In accordance with their recommendation, it was decided to 
purchase another engine and a hose carriage. 

On June 17, 1853, a second company was organized called 
Cataract, No. 2, with Henry Bowman as foreman. The 



THE FIRE DEPARTMENT. 



289 



engine, also bought of Hunneman & Co.. came to town June 
2 1st, and there was a great celebration in which the Cataract 
and Torrent Companies both participated. Franklin Forbes' 
first printed report appeared this year.* 

It was not until 1854 and '55, that the members of the 
engine companies received pay for their services. B. R. 
Cotton was for some years the foreman of the Torrent Com- 
pany, while Oilman M. Palmer was foreman of the Cataract. 

July 7, 1858, the Franklin Hook and Ladder Company 
was formed and apparatus purchased. The old brick school- 
house of No. 4 was fitted up for this company. There was 
much rivalry between the Torrent and Cataract Companies. 
After the flag staff was erected on the Common, there were 
repeated contests as to which could throw the highest verti- 
cal stream. The companies also took part in various con- 
tests abroad. There were few serious fires from 1850 to 
1865. Only five worthy of special notice are on record. In 
January, 1853, there was a loss of five thousand dollars at 
the comb shops of Sidney Harris. December 20, 1856, 
Alanson Chace's tenement building on Oak Street was 
burned, and February 17, 1857, the planing mill of Fuller & 
Rice near the railway station, February 5, 1858, the O'Mal- 
ley house in California was destroyed and three persons 
burned to death. January 4, 1859, the Union building on 
Pleasant Street was burned. The total pecuniary loss dur- 
ing all these years could hardly have averaged one thousand 
dollars per annum. This fact was largely due to the effi- 
ciency of the department. In 1859, Samuel Belyea became 

*He stated the expenses of the Fire Department as follows: 

Cataract Engine House $7^5 34 

Cataract Engine 725 00 

600 feet Hose 360 00 

Hose Carriage 50 00 

Pipes, Buckets, etc 403 6g 

$2,254 03 



290 



FIFTEEN YEARS OF MUNICIPAL LIFE. 



chief engineer, in 1861, '63 and '64, Charles Bowman, in 1862, 
Elisha Brimhall, in 1865, Franklin Forbes. 

In this first year, 1850-51, the only other item of expense 
for permanent investment, except for the cemetery and fire 
department, was the pound. This cost about fifty-four dol- 
lars. 

Preliminary steps were entered upon in regard to the 
purchase of an alms-house and poor farm, August 5, 1850, 
but no definite action was taken until the next year. C. W. 
Blanchard, in a report made for the committee on a pauper 
establishment, states: "The committee purchased the place 
of Sumner Thomson, near the Cemetery, consisting of a 
small house and barn, with about nine acres of land, for one 
thousand dollars. They afterwards purchased of Mr. Joseph 
Rice about three acres more for two hundred and fifty dol- 
lars. * * * They have erected upon this land a dwelling- 
house thirty-six feet by thirty feet, containing eleven rooms." 
The cost of the building was two thousand and seventy- 
three dollars and seventy cents. The pauper establishment 
also received some over an acre of land from the cemetery, 
making thirteen acres in all. 

March i, 1858, thirty-eight people were supported by the 
town. All but two of these were "foreigners." After the 
completion of the pauper establishment, the number dimin- 
ished so that at the end of the year only seven remained. 
In August 1852, there was not a single pauper at the house. 
Jeremiah Barnard was the first superintendent, and he re- 
mained until 1858, when Joseph Cole took the position, stay- 
ing until after 1865. Mr. Cole came from Littleton. 

In the spring of 1852, H. N. Bigelow presented to the 
town a lot containing about four acres with the conditions: 
that it should always be used as a Common; that no perma- 
nent structure should ever be placed upon it; that it should 
be laid out according to the plans of J. C. Hoadley, and that 
it should be cared for and beautified at public expense. At 
a meeting held April 5, 1852, it was voted to accept from 




o 



THE COMMON. 



2gi 



H. N. Bigelow this gift, and to appropriate one thousand 
dollars for the improvement thereof according to the condi- 
tions imposed. 

The workmen were soon busy in transforming the "un- 
sightly bog-hole" into a beautiful park. The springs were 
utilized in filling a pond which was to serve not only for 
adornment but also for utility inasmuch as it was proposed 
to use it as a reservoir to be drawn from in case of fire. 
This pond was in the southeasterly portion. In an editorial 
in the Courant, May 15, 1852, Edwin Bynner, in his gushing 
style said: "The site is a splendid one, commanding an ex- 
cellent view, and when the grounds shall have been laid out, 
trees planted and the whole neatly fenced, imagination will 
readily hear the plaudits of the youth of the twentieth cen- 
tury, who, as they promenade in loving couples the smooth, 
umbrageous walks around it, looking up admiringly through 
the wide spread branches of the saplings you now encircle 
with your hand, will hold in pleasing memory, not only the 
public-spirited donor, but the wise ancestors who thus timely 
accepted and improved the gift." 

The various kinds of maples predominated among the 
trees set out inside the Common, but the elm, the ash, the 
linden and the beech also found a place. On the outside. 
Chestnut, Church, Walnut and Union Streets were bordered 
with elms alone. The regular price of labor upon the Com- 
mon was ninety-two cents per day. The work was done 
under the superintendence of Jeremiah Barnard. It was 
three years before the work was finished with an average net 
expenditure of a little over eleven hundred dollars per year. 
In June, 1858, a flag-staff was raised in the northeasterly 
portion. 

There was a constant demand made upon the taxpayers 
during the first years of the existence of the town for new 
roads. Only three of these, however, were of any great 
length. Of these, the Berlin Road was built for the most 
part in 1852. The Sterling Road in 1853 and '54; the Boyl- 



292 



FIFTEEN YEARS OF MUNICIPAL LIFE. 



ston Road in i860 and '61. The building of short roads like 
Grove Street, " California Road," "Wilson Hill Road," the 
construction of culverts and sewers and sidewalks, together 
with the repairs of roads and bridges used up the rest of the 
appropriation.* Of course there was no sewer system, and 
Counterpane Pond and the river received the surface drain- 
age and whatever else private parties chose to empty there. 
Frequent complaint was made in the paper about the condi- 
tion of the sidewalks. Concrete was unknown. There were 
a few rods of brick sidewalk on High Street, but elsewhere, 
even if there was any pretention to sidewalks, they were apt 
to be very muddy in wet weather. 

William Stearns was appointed in 1852 the first agent for 
selling liquors under the "new law." He said that he would 
never have taken the agency, if he had realized how much 
sickness there was in town. During most of the time for the 
next thirteen years, A. A. Burditt was the agent. The story 
of municipal action in behalf of the nation must be consid- 
ered elsewhere under the general story of the Civil War. 

Few permanent investments were made between i860 and 
1865, and the schedulef of town property, which amounted to 

* EXPENDITURES FOR ROADS AND BRIDGES, 

1860-61 $2,959 14 

1861-62 850 81 

1862-63 3,727 84 

1863-64 1.773 II 

1864-65 3,146 85 



1850-51. . . 


• ■ $603 87 


1855-56- 


.$2,175 00 


1851-52... 


. . 1,416 40 


1856-57- 


. 1,979 86 


1852-53... 


■ • 2,947 63 


1857-58- 


. 1,961 03 


1853-54- •• 


. . 1,909 61 


1858-59. 


- 3-370 90 


1854-55- •■ 


• • 2.539 65 


1859-60. 


■ 6,318 37 



tCemetery $3,551 30 

Hearse and harness 163 00 

Town property : 472 47 

Pound 66 74 

Engine House No. i 737 68' 

Engine House No. 2. . . 732 64 

Torrent Engine No. i 995 00 

Cataract Engine No. 2 1,259 00 

Hook and Ladder House 54 46 

Hook and Ladder Wagon 85 oo 



TOWN PROPERTY. 



293 



about thirt}'-four thousand dollars, not including roads and 
bridges, at the end of the former year will represent that of 
the latter year, as well as show how much the town had done 
in those ten years. 

Hose Carriage $131 80 

Pauper Establishment 5,006 64 

Primary School House No. i 3.489 82 

" 3 888 Br 

" 4 4.062 35 

" " " " 5 2,270 06 

Grammar School House 6,250 44 

Common 3.369 93 

Flag-staff 387 94 

^^33.975 08 



CHAPTER XIX. 



CLINTON SCHOOLS. 



We have seen how the town had its origin from the 
school district and, ever since its incorporation, the mainte- 
nance and development of the school system has been recog- 
nized as its chief municipal function. Even in the midst of 
the greatest business depression, the school interests have 
never been allowed to suffer. Over one-third of all the taxes 
raised by the town during the first fifteen years of its exist- 
ence was devoted to school purposes. The quality of the 
schools prove.d that these large appropriations were well 
spent. 

The town has been peculiarly fortunate in the men* who 



*LIST OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE WITH PERIODS OF SERVICE FROM 1850 

TO March, 1866. 



Rev. Wm. H. Corning, 1850-52. 
C. W. Blanchard, 1850-51. 
Dr. G. W. Burdett, 1850-53. 
Rev. C. M. Bowers, 1850-51, 52-56, 

58-66. 
C, L. Swan, 1850-51. 
Wm. W. Parker, 1850-51, 52-54. 
A. J. Sawyer, 1850-52. 
Franklin Forbes, 1851-52, 54-55. 

56-61. 
J. T. Dame, 1851-52, 53-54, 56-57. 

62-66. 
H.N.Bigelow, 1851-52,53-55,56-58, 

59-60. 



A. S.Carleton, 1851-52,54-55,56-57. 
Rev. Wm. D. Hitchcock, 1852-54. 
Rev. George Bowler, 1852-53. 
James Ingalls, 1852-53. 
Dr. P. Chamberlain, 1852-53. 
Rev. L. J. Livermore, 1853-56, 

57-58. 
Rev. T. W. Lewis, 1853-54. 
A. E. Bigelow, 1854-60. 
Dr. George M. Morse, 1854-55, 

56-57. 
Rev. W. W. Winchester, 1855-56. 
Rev. A. F. Bailey, 1855-56. 
C. F. W. Parkhurst. 1855-56,62-66. 



SCHOOL COMMITTEE. 295 

have had direction of its school affairs. Foremost among 
these may be mentioned Franklin Forbes who served for 
about half of the first twenty-five years as chairman of the 
board. His wide culture, his practical experience as a teacher 
in the best schools of the state, his business ability, his lib- 
eral and far-seeing policy which came from dealing with large 
affairs and his freedom from bigotry, combined to make him 
the ideal man to control the school interests of a new town. 

John:T. Dame even exceeded Mr. Forbes in the length 
of his service as a member and chairman of the school 
board. His administration was characterized by thorough 
scholarship and scorn of all pretense. Teachers and schol- 
ars were spurred on to do their best by the assurance that 
all school affairs were managed by him without the slightest 
partiality, and that merit would surely secure recognition. 

During all the first fifteen years of the history of the 
town. Rev. C. M. Bowers served on the board with the excep- 
tion of four years. He, as well as Mr. Forbes and Mr. 
Dame, was capable of examining any scholar or any teacher 
on the most advanced work required in the schools of those 
days. He added to the most conscientious discharge of his 
official duties, warm sympathies, enthusiasm and a progres- 
sive spirit. 

The work of these men was ably supplemented by that 
of H. N. Bigelow, C. G. Stevens, Rev. L. }. Livermore, A. 
E. Bigelow, C. F. W. Parkhurst, Joshua Thissell and many 
others who recognized that the greatest service they could 
do for the community was in forwarding the education of 
the children, and who felt that no personal labors were too 
great which tended in this direction. 



C. G. Stevens, 1856-62. 

Josiah H. Vose, 1857-62. 

Henry C. Greeley, 1857-59. 

Daniel W. Kilburn, 1859-60. 

Eneas Morgan, 1860-65. 

Some account of the lives of 'each of these men may be fonnd by aid 
of the index. 



Dr. George W. Symonds, 1860-63. 
Joshua Thissell, 1861-66. 
Rev. Wm. Cushing, 1863-66. 
Eneas Morgan, 1865-66. 



2g6 CLINTON SCHOOLS. 

As the schools were already organized and equipped 
when the town was incorporated, it was not necessary to 
build up a new system, and the committee of 1850-51 did not 
see fit to make any radical reforms in the old. The six 
school-houses, with a seating capacity of three hundred and 
fourteen, gave, however, a sadly deficient accommodation 
for an attendance of four hundred and thirty-seven, and we 
find the committee at once asking for a new building in the 
center to be used for the High and Second Schools. It was 
three years before the more pressing needs of the new town 
allowed this building to be con.structed. In 185 1-2, Mr. 
Forbes was chairman of the committee, and his influence 
was seen in the more liberal expenditures for school pur- 
poses. The salaries of the teachers were raised and the 
principle established "that the teachers must perform their 
duties faithfully; and that for such performance they are 
entitled to a liberal compensation." A new school-house on 
Burditt Hill was built during the year, and District No. 5 
was established. Another house was built at McCollumville. 
The amount paid for new school-houses this year was two 
thousand five hundred and eighty dollars and twenty-nine 
cents. New and better text-books were introduced. Terms 
and vacations were arranged on a new basis. Beginning the 
school year with the first Wednesday in March, there was a 
term of twenty-two weeks, with a recess of one week be- 
tween the two equal divisions. Then came a vacation of 
three weeks, another term of twenty-two weeks, with a 
week's vacation in the middle and a vacation of three vveeks 
at the end. There were thus forty-four weeks in all. In 
1853, the primary school was shortened to forty weeks, with 
a six weeks' vacation in the summer. 

There was a great excitement during this year over the 
question of the reading of the Bible in the schools. "A child 
of Catholic parents declined reading the Scriptures at the 
customary religious exercises of the morning. * * * The 
teacher did not insist but quietly read such portions of the 



SECOND AND THIRD SCHOOLS. 297 

Scriptures herself as she thought proper. She continued to 
do this subsequently. Dr. G. W. Burdett and Franklin 
Forbes, who were on the sub-committee for the school, sus- 
tained her in this action and the full School Board voted: 
that the committee construe the phrase 'reading the Scrip- 
tures' in the School Regulations, to mean the reading of the 
Scriptures by the teachers." Strange as it may seem to us 
to-day, this action of the committee awakened the most bit- 
ter opposition, and only one member of the old board was 
reelected for the following year, and this one declined to 
serve. The reading of the Scriptures by the scholars was 
resumed, but it was voted that those having religious scru- 
ples should be excused from taking part if they requested, so 
that the action of this board cannot be any more condemned 
for sectarian feeling than that of the previous one. 

The union of the Second and Third or High Schools 
under one principal was recommended. This wise recom- 
mendation was adopted at the close of the following year, 
and the school year was again arranged so that now there 
were three terms of fourteen weeks each in all the schools. 
We have noted the work of George N. Bigelow in the High 
School. His brother, Artemas E. Bigelow, was master of 
the Second School for nearly three years. He acquired here 
that reputation for thoroughness of work which he after- 
wards so well maintained in his connection with the various 
industries of the town. The proportion of male to female 
teachers is noticeable as there were two of the former to 
four of the latter. Geo. N. Bigelow having resigned in the 
summer of 1852, S. W. Boardman, a graduate of Middlebury 
College, was elected principal of the High School. The 
committee saw fit to retain his services but a single term. 
C. W. Walker of Southboro, a teacher of "established repu- 
tation," was elected to fill the position. He remained until 
the end of the following year. 

It was during the year 1853-54 that the High School 
building on the corner of Walnut and Church Streets was 



298 CLINTON SCHOOLS. 

built. The building previously used there was moved between 
the churches. There was some opposition to this building 
on account of the expense, since it cost more than all the 
other school buildings together; but after the plans had once 
been voted down it was at last decided at a subsequent meet- 
ing to go ahead. The house, which was completed in the 
spring of 1854, cost about six thousand dollars. Dr. Geo. M. 
Morse had special oversight of the building, and the contract 
was let out to Edward E. Harlow. 

The Second and Third Schools having been united under 
the title of Grammar School were put into this building and 
under the charge of Josiah S. Phillips, who had two assistants 
for the lower departments. Mr, Phillips had formerly been 
the teacher of the Leominster High School. The organization 
of this Grammar School under the system which it retained 
for over thirty years was largely due to him. He is spoken 
of as "laborious, faithful and zealous." "In a situation that 
requires much more than the mere power of imparting 
knowledge, he has displayed in a large degree the abilities 
that insure success." He was especially successful as a 
teacher of science and much of the physical apparatus now 
used in the school was bought of and through him. He re- 
mained with the school about four years and a half. He 
afterwards became a civil engineer in Lowell, and was then 
for ten years or more in the employ of Dr. J. C. Ayer. He 
died April 17, 1879, at the age of sixty-five. 

After the resignation of Mr. Phillips in the winter of 
1858-9, Henry S. Nourse of Lancaster was secured as princi- 
pal to complete the unfinished term. The new year of 1859 
began with Rev. Frederic A. Fiske in charge of the Gram- 
mar School. Mr. Fiske was a native of Wrentham and was 
born April 15, 1816. He graduated at Amherst College in 
1836. He had taught in New York City, Norwalk, Ct., and 
had been principal of the famous Monson Academy and a 
teacher in Fall River. He had graduated from the Yale 
Theological School in 1850. He had been ordained and had 



GRAMMAR AND HIGH SCHOOLS. 299 

preached as a Congregationalist clergyman in Ashburnham, 
Mass. He had also preached in East Marshfield. " Mr. 
Fiske's connection with the school here soon became dis- 
tasteful to him," since he found that he could not govern the 
school by " a course of gentle remonstrance," and he resigned 
after two terms. After leaving Clinton, he was principal of 
a boys' boarding-school in Newton. He was superintendent 
of education for North Carolina under the Freedmen's Bureau, 
1865-8. Soon after, he entered the Episcopal ministry. He 
preached in various places from 1870 to 1878, when he died 
December 15. Elizabeth S. Owens was next made principal, 
but she too found the school somewhat unmanageable and 
taught only one term. During this year, the "Senior Depart- 
ment of the Grammar School," which corresponds to the 
present High School, for the first time had an assistant. 
Martha A. Stearns filled this position. 

In the spring of i860, Dana I. Jocelyn became the prin- 
cipal of the Grammar School, with Lucinda Foster as his 
assistant in the senior department. He was born in Georgia, 
Vt., December 6, 1830. He graduated at Amherst College 
in 1855. He had taught in Grafton and Stoneham. There 
was a most earnest effort during his principalship and that 
of his successor to establish a regular High School course of 
study. Up to this time, the work seems to have been left at 
the option of the scholars and the teachers. As a result of this 
effort in the summer of 1864, three scholars, Helen F. Mor- 
gan, Harriet C. Morse and Isadore Parker, received diplomas 
and thus became the first regular graduates of the school. 
The course taken by these scholars compares favorably with 
that of later years. Mr. Jocelyn remained with the school 
two years. He taught in Maiden from 1862 to 1865. He 
then became a dentist and went to St. Louis, where he lived 
for many years. 

He was followed in 1862 by Rev. Milan C. Stebbins, who 
was born in Granby, May 16, 1828. He studied at Easthamp- 
ton. He graduated at Amherst College in 185 1. Hetaughtat 



300 CLINTON SCHOOLS. 

Elmonton Academy, N. H., was principal of Hopkinton 
Academy, N. H., principal of Nashua High School 1853-58, 
and established the "Mansion School" at Lancaster, Mass. 
Under his control, our school reached a much higher level of 
scholarship than it had ever before attained. The work in 
English and the classics seemed to the committee especially 
worthy of commendation. Miss Foster remained with him 
as an assistant during the first two terms, and then it was 
decided for economy's sake to have only one teacher in the 
department. It was found that this was a mistake, however, 
and at the beginning of the next year Harriet A. Rice was 
employed. At the end of the first term of his third year, 
that is, in July, 1864, Rev. M. C. Stebbins resigned his posi- 
tion. He was principal of the Springfield High School from 
1865 to 1874, and from 1874 to 1881 principal of the Springfield 
Collegiate Institute. He then went into business as a book- 
seller in the same city. 

Josiah H. Hunt was his successor. He was born in Haw- 
ley, December 26, 1835. ^^ fitted for college at Kimball 
Union Academy, Meriden, N. H. He graduated at Amherst 
in 1861, and had taught three years before he came to Clin- 
ton. The story of his nine years of work in our High School 
belongs for the most part to later history. He was a strict 
disciplinarian and a most thorough teacher. As an instructor 
in Latin, he was especially excellent. He became principal 
of the High School in Gloucester in the spring of 1873. 
In the eighties, he went to Topeka, Kansas, where he still 
resides. He is a real estate agent and a dealer in Kansas 
mortgages. At the end of the first year of his teaching in 
Clinton, a class of four graduated. These were Cornelia V. 
Bowers, Henrietta E. Parker, Helen M. Stearns and Abbie E. 
Dame. It will be noticed that all of the graduates of the 
first two years are females. Arthur F. Bowers, who received 
a diploma in 1866, was the first male graduate. 

During these first fifteen years of Clinton's history, while 



TEACHERS. 



301 



the number of children in town within school age had in- 
creased only about fifty per cent, the average attendance at 
school had increased some ninety per cent.* 

In 1855 and 1856, the school-house on Burditt Hill was 
moved from its former location on Beacon Street to Main 
Street. In the following year, the two-roomed brick school- 
house of No. 4 was built between the Baptist and Orthodox 
Churches at a cost of four thousand one hundred and twenty- 
five dollars and thirty-five cents. In 1857-58, the two-roomed 
school-house for No. i was built near the Lancaster Mills 
Bridge at a cost of three thousand four hundred and eighty- 
nine dollars and eighty-two cents, and there the children of 
Grove and lower Chestnut Streets as well as those from Wil- 
son Hill and the Acre were accommodated. 

During these fifteen years the number of teachers had in- 
creased from six to eleven. All of the increase in teachers 
was made before the war, and shortly after another great 
advance was made in this direction. There was only one 
year out of the first eight in which the town did not tax 



* SCHOOL ATTENDANCE. 

Average attendance 

No. of Children in Total average at High School 

Town between 5 and 15. attendance. or Senior Grammar. 

1850-51 429 257 46 

1851-52 495 261 50 

1852-53 526 284 46 

1853-54 555 294 41 

1854-55 580 322 36 

1855-56 565 342 

1856-57 322 31 

1857-58 517 428 31 

1858-59 610 435 36 

1859-60 620 408 30 

1860-61 675 444 31 

1861-62 756 504 46 

1862-63 736 498 43 

1863-64 674 473 46 

1864-65 643 490 38 

1865-96 897 521 40 



302 



CLINTON SCHOOLS. 



itself for new school property. From 1858 to the close of 
the war there was no building. The general expenses be- 
came greater year by year and the salaries paid, more and 
more liberal.* This was true even when the burdens of war 
times were pressing upon the people most heavily and for- 
cing them to the utmost economy in every other direction. 

Little need be said of the work of the lower grades of 
schools. As it was laid out in the course of study, it seems 
very meager compared with the work done in the same 
grades to-day. There was no "nature work" and no draw- 
ing prescribed in the course of those days. Little or no 
writing was done during the first four years of school life, 
the word method was unheard of, the reading in the school- 
room was generally confined to a single series of readers. 
In the grammar schools there has been less change, and no 





Total 




Expense. 


1850-51 


. . .$5,619 10. 


1851-52 


. . . 5,879 09. 


1852-53 


... 2,761 38. 


1853-54 


. . . 5,958 68. 


1854-55 


■ • ■ 5.463 52. 


1855-56 


■ • ■ 3.521 49- 


1856-57 


• ■ • 7.157 73- 


1857-58 


. . . 8,297 72. 


1858-59 


... 4,391 49. 


1859-60 


■ • • 4,584 95- 


1860-61 


. ■ • 4.564 31- 


1861-62 


. . . 4,846 50. 


1862-63 


■ • ■ 4.555 27. 


1863-64 


... 4,895 81. 


1864-65 


... 5,431 50. 


1865-66 


. . . 6,204 64. 



♦taxation for schools. 

New School Property. 
Bought District No. 10. . . $4,525 43 
No. 3 and No. 5 2,580 29 

( 3,162 93 

Moving No. 5 384 43 

No. 4 r3.5o6 7i 

No.i 61864 

I 3.489 82 



No building. 



General 
Expense. 

$1,093 (^1 

3,298 80 

2,761 38 

2.795 75 
2,409 19 

3.137 06 
3,651 02 
4,189 26 

4.391 49 
4,584 95 



The general expense account of the second year evidently overlaps 
that of the first year. These accounts do not include some small 
receipts from property sold or those from the state, neither on the other 
hand is insurance or interest generally included. These would perhaps 
nearly balance each other. 



TEACHERS. 303 

study now required for admission to the High School was then 
omitted. It is probable that the keener scholars of fifteen 
at that earlier time would equal in knowledge and mental 
discipline similar scholars of the same age to-day. There 
has, however, been a decided advance in the case of the 
average scholar in breadth of knowledge and some forms 
of mental power. 

The school reports must have proved an ordeal to some 
of the teachers, for the merits and demerits of each were 
treated without reserve in public print. What indignation, 
what tears must have followed the reading of these most 
unmerciful documents! Yet, harsh as they were, it is possi- 
ble that they served their purpose and spurred the teachers 
to more earnest effort than could otherwise have been 
aroused. 

The names of these early teachers* would awaken in 

*TEACHERS OF PRIMARY SCHOOLS. 
1850-1865. 

The names are put in order of service. 

The names of those teaching two years or more before 1866 are itali- 
cized. 

M. A. Price. Ellen A. Wright. 

Jane A. Daniels. Celinda P. Gates. 

R. F. Priest. Elizabeth L. Gibbs. 

Sarah A. Colburn. Louisa M. Swain. 

M. A. Boynton. Sarah W. Baker. 

E. M. Levering. Maria F. Hills. 

Harriet F. Whitcomb. Frances A. Lovell. 

EHza Crane. Beulah A. Park. 

Emma L. Reeves. Martha E. Hale. 

Urania E. Ingalls. Lucretia S. Morgan. 

Lucy M. Holman. Mira J. Sawyer. 

Sarah C. Miner. Victoria E. Gates. 

Sarah A. Nichols. Mary F. Stearns. 

Mary F. McCollum. P. A. Barnes. 

Ellen F. Colburn. Martha A. Wallace. 

Julia J. Haven. Abbie H. Stowe. 

S. Angenette King. Anna S. Harrington. 



304 



CLINTON SCHOOLS. 



the minds of those who were once their scholars varied 
memories of dull catechising and wise instruction, of sting- 
ing rebukes and cheering inspiration, of severe punishments 
and tender sympathy. As a whole, the work of these teach- 
ers was most efficient. Many who have done good service 
in the world have reason to thank them for their discipline, 
and to them more than any other agents is due the wonder- 
ful transformation that took place in our immigrant popula- 
tion in the second generation. 

Besides raising the average intelligence of the commu- 
nity in a remarkable degree, our schools during these early 
years furnished valuable training to some who were to exert 
a powerful influence on our town and on the world at large. 
George W. Weeks, Eli Forbes, James A. Morgan and Charles 
H. Shedd, Henry N. Bigelow, Charles B. Bigelow and Ed- 
ward W. Burdett, Herbert J. Brown and William H. Gibbs 
are representatives whom our schools of this period have 

Marietta Jewett. Mary A. E. Downes. 

Emma S. Whitcomb. Frances E. Burdett. 

Annie B. Cutter. Mary J. Abbott. 

M. T. Bush. , Harriet M. Haskell. 

Carrie A. Brigham. Carrie E. Goodale. 

Mary E. Pease. Susan Hartwell. 

Lydia J. Derby. Lizzie C. Stearns. 

Martha A. Stearns. Sarah A. Fawcett. 

E. Frances Campbell. Celinda M. Copp. 

Lydia S. Willard. Mary H. Stone. 

Marietta Jewett. Mary A. Cameron. 

Sara C. Woodbury. Abbie E. Dame. 

Grammar School. 
Middle and Junior Departments. 

Artemas E. Bigelow. Sarah A. Cobb. 

J. L. Butler. Ada M. Parkhurst. 

Perley B. Davis. Mary F. Stearns. 

Levi S. Burbank. Elizabeth E. Tidd. 

Rev. L. J. Livermore. Maria F. Hills. 

Mrs. C. M. S. Carpe7tter. Charlotte H. Munger. 



THE PRODUCT. 



505 



furnished to our manufacturing interests. C. C. Stone, E. A. 
and G. S. Harris belong to the schools of an earlier date. 
If we add to these, the men who have taken a leading part 
in manufacturing elsewhere, we can affirm that our schools 
have helped to educate men enough of sufficient ability to 
conduct and thoroughly officer manufacturing interests much 
larger than our own. The same statement could be made 
in regard to commerce and the professions. Our educational 
product for these early years of our municipal life, was such 
that it may safely be said, that Clinton gave to the world 
without, more than it received from it. Many of these boys, 
who were scholars in the Clinton schools in the fifties fought 
valiantly for the salvation of their country in the early six- 
ties. Some like Edwin Lassiter Bynner, the author of Agnes 
Surriage, have won laurels in literature. Some, like Arthur 
F. Bowers of the New York Tribune, have exerted a great 
influence through the press. Some, like John B. Cotton, 
assistant attorney general, U. S. A., and ex-mayor John 
A. Roche of Chicago, have received well-deserved honors 
from the hands of their fellow-citizens. No man is better 
known throughout the state as a jurist and political leader 
than our own townsman, John W. Corcoran. The greatest 
moral and social upheaval in America during the past quar- 
ter of a century was produced by Rev. Charles H. Parkhurst. 
This list might be much extended, but enough has been said 
to show that our schools of early years were not lacking in 
pupils destined to do good service both at home and 
abroad. 



CHAPTER XX. 
FRANKLIN FORBES AND THE LANCASTER MILLS. 

When Horatio N. Bigelow found it necessary for him to 
withdraw from his connection with the Lancaster Mills, 
every possible effort was made by the directors to find the 
most able man available to take charge of their important 
interests. They wanted a man who combined in himself all 
the elements which go to make the successful manufacturer; 
a capacity to acquire a thorough knowledge of the details of 
the business and to see these details in their proper relation 
to each other, so that all things should work together with 
the least loss of material or power; an ability to so select and 
direct subordinates and operatives that from qualifications, 
conditions and dispositions, they should produce the best 
results at the least expense; a spotless integrity, which would 
care for the interests of the corporation, as if they were his 
own. The directors, being broad-minded men, sought even 
more than this, they wanted a man of such a character that 
he would elevate the general tone of the community and 
make Clinton so desirable a dwelling place, that the best 
men would be glad to come here and make it their perma- 
nent home. They found just the man they were looking for 
in Franklin Forbes. 

Mr. Forbes was a native of West Cambridge, now Arling- 
ton. He was born March 8, i8ii. He was the son of Eli 
and Clarissa (Nichols) Forbes. His father was a tallow 
chandler. This is not the only point in which the biography 
of Franklin Forbes resembles that of Benjamin Franklin, 



YOUTH AND EDUCATION. 



307 



after whom he was named and in whose character he found 
his ideal. He seems to have inherited his energy from his 
mother. He was one of eight children. His two brothers, 
who were older than he, died while they were young men. 
All his sisters were women of excellent ability. His father 
moved to Boston while Franklin was yet an infant. His 
parents were Universalists, and hoping that their youngest 
son might become a minister of that denomination, they de- 
termined to give him the most liberal education that their 
means would allow. When the boy was twelve years old, 
his father died, leaving so little property that the members 
of the family were all obliged to become self-supporting. 
Franklin became a druggist's boy in the shop of Sampson, 
Lowe & Reed. The proprietors were Swedenborgians and 
tried to lead the lad into their way of thinking. It is possi- 
ble that his natural tendency to place character above creed 
may have been fostered by their teachings. 

Even thus early, he had determined to make the most of 
himself that he had the capacity for being, and he felt that 
such an education as he desired could be obtained to the best 
advantage through the schools. His brother, Luke, loaned 
him money to enable him to renew his interrupted studies. 
He received the thorough drill of the Boston Latin School, 
where Charles Sumner was his classmate. He also studied at 
Amherst Academy and under Rev. Nathan Perkins of East 
Amherst. So thoroughly was he fitted for college that he 
could repeat his entire Latin grammar verbatim, even in his 
later years. He was eighteen years old when he entered 
Amherst in 1829. This college had been established by the 
Congregationalists eight years before to counteract the Uni- 
tarian tendencies of Harvard. The expenses of the students 
were very small. It is probable that Mr. Forbes chose this 
institution on account of his lack of means. Thirty-eight 
men graduated in the same class with Mr. Forbes, twenty of 
whom became evangelical clergymen. Among the students 
in college with him were Henry Ward Beecher and Alexan- 



3o8 FRANKLIN FORBES. 

der H. Bullock. His scholarship is attested by his member- 
ship in the Chi Delta Theta Society, which was a close 
aristocracy of learning, to which only students of especial 
ability were admitted after nomination by the faculty. The 
Franklin Medal, which he received in the Boston schools, 
and the pin of this society were always kept by him among 
the choicest mementos of his youth. 

When Mr. Forbes graduated in 1833, he felt that his first 
duty was to repay his debts. Teaching offered a larger im- 
mediate income than any other congenial profession. He 
became an instructor in the Wells Grammar School in Bos- 
ton, where he remained until 1835. The next year, he was 
principal of the High School in Lowell. From 1836 to 1842, 
he was in Boston, at first as principal of the Winthrop Gram- 
mar School on East Street, and later in a private school 
taught by him in connection with his brother-in-law, E. L. 
Gushing, who afterwards became chief justice of New Hamp- 
shire. Among the boys, who attended the school and after- 
wards attained distinction, was Horace Grey, so well known 
as a judge of the Superior Court of the United States. Sep- 
tember 5, 1837, Mr. Forbes married Martha Ann Stearns, 
daughter of Hon. Edmund Gushing of Lunenburg. From 
1842 to 1846, he was again principal of the Lowell High 
School. This was by no means the end of his work as an 
educator, for, although he at this time abandoned teaching 
as a profession, yet he continued throughout his life a 
teacher in the broadest sense of the word, and he was for 
many years the official director of teachers. 

It may be well for us to pause here in the outline of his 
biography and consider his work as an educator and a citi- 
zen before we study his work as the agent of the Lancaster 
Mills. 

One of the boys who attended the Winthrop School while 
Mr. Forbes was master has said of him: " He had the most 
perfect command, control, respect and, I may say, love of 



EDUCATIONAL WORK. 



309 



his pupils. * * * His smile was ineffable sweetness and 
power and the quaint way in which he would ejaculate 'Oh, 
fudge !' when a boy made some improbable excuse or story, 
was something to be remembered. In fact, he was an expert 
at moral suasion; he was magnetic and he persuaded his 
pupils and fired them with a spirit of emulation." 

In 1864, Mr. Forbes delivered an address before the Low- 
ell High School Association, and the "warmth of affection" 
with which his former pupils greeted him showed how benefi- 
cent his influence had been. The heads of this discourse 
give the main points of his educational creed. "We must 
ascertain the characteristics which God, in his providence, 
has implanted in the child, and give those characteristics 
their appropriate culture and restraint." "A strong will 
forms a good substratum of character." " Educators often 
think it is a dreadful thing, that must be broken down, * * * 
while the true doctrine is to enlighten and direct it." "Two 
other faculties of man, implanted b}' God, the world teaches 
me are essential to man's success in life. * * * I mean tact 
and common sense." "I look upon the public school as the 
chief of republican institutions, * * * the great demolisher 
of caste and the founder of manl\', sturdy self-reliance." "A 
good thing is always in demand and the world takes it when 
it finds it out." 

For thirteen years, between 1852 and 1877, Mr. Forbes 
was a member of the school committee of Clinton, and with 
the exception of a portion of a single }'ear acted as chair- 
man. In 1852, there were in town four hundred and twent}'- 
nine children between the ages of five and fifteen. In 1877, 
there were fourteen hundred and fifty-seven. It was largely 
due to his wisdom that ample provision was made for this 
increasing number of pupils. A study of the school reports, 
prepared by him, shows that his work as the executive head 
of the board was preeminently practical. There is little 
theorizing and little preaching. The needs of the schools 
and the best methods of satisfying these needs are stated in 



310 



FRANKLIN FORBES. 



the simplest and clearest language, and yet extracts might 
be taken from these reports that would make an excellent 
monograph on education. A single passage must suffice: 
"The teacher's business contains no mystery, no cabalistic 
art to be imparted only to the initiated; and it requires no 
laying on of hands to give it sanctity, and no imposing pomp 
to humbug the people. Its worthy basis is sound, thorough 
and abundant knowledge, such as is not exhausted at the 
first opening of the mouth, nor contained within the covers 
of common school text-books. This knowledge must be 
vivified by a lively and suggestive imagination, that can aid 
in discovering the various conditions of pupils' minds and 
the appropriate means of illustration and example that will 
attract or enlighten them. It must be rendered effective by 
methodical as well as industrious habits. The imparting of 
it must be recommended to the child by a cheerful and 
agreeable manner, such only as a benevolent heart can in- 
spire. The guaranty of its success is, after all, that indefin- 
able characteristic, — whose defect neither learning, culture, 
imagination, industry, or benevolence can supply, — to wit, 
tact; the want of which has been fatal to the success of 
many a pains-taking person and proves that the teacher, like 
the. poet, must be born, not made." 

The work of Mr. Forbes as chairman of the Bigelow 
Library Association from the time of its organization in 1852 
until the library was given to the town in 1873, and as chair- 
man of the Board of Directors of the newly formed Bigelow 
Free Public Library from 1873 until his death, over a quar- 
ter of a century of continuous service, belongs also to the 
educational department of his work. In connection with the 
Bigelow Library Association and in his private capacity, he 
helped to originate and support various courses of lectures 
by his purse, by labor in organization and by giving his 
services as a speaker. His lecture on " Hydraulics," his 
poem, his talk on Robert Burns, his readings from Shakes- 
peare will be recalled by many of our older citizens. 



RELIGION AND BENEVOLENCE. 311 

Perhaps the deepest influence which he exerted in educa- 
tion was through his example, for it made intellectual cul- 
ture fashionable to have a man of high position and large 
affairs work for it as one of the main ends of his own life 
and the hope of the future of the community. 

In his final report as chairman of the Board of Directors 
of the Bigelow Free Public Library, he leaves as a rich 
legacy to the future a statement concerning the supreme 
value of education and a plea that Clinton continue to pro- 
vide liberally for its maintenance. 

"Let us never abandon to a niggardly support, these dis- 
tinguished institutions of New England, the public schools, 
and free libraries; let us endow them well and keep them in 
charge of the best teachers and directors the town can find, 
commensurate with its ability and standing — for in the ex- 
isting state of knowledge, art and skill, no boy or man can 
know too much; the less he knows the weaker he is. Ignor- 
ance is never bliss. It is never folly to be wise. To the 
man of sound mind and well digested learning, ignorance, 
bigotry and tyranny are powerless to constrain the freedom 
of his mind, or steal away his right of private judgment in 
matters of religion or politics or self-control." 

With Mr. Forbes, religion and education were closely 
allied, and he considered the fundamental principle to be 
the same in each. "The chief end of man" is to harmoni- 
ously develop to the utmost, in himself and in others, the 
powers which God has given; thus, and thus only, he can 
"Glorify God and enjoy Him forever." As we have seen, 
education with him meant something more than mere intel- 
lectual development; it meant the development of the whole 
man. In his first school report, Mr. Forbes says: "the com- 
mittee would rejoice to see the spirit of their Heavenly 
Father diffusing itself through every school-room," and he 
urges "the influence of the teacher's own piety, evident, pre- 
dominating over all his other characteristics." Such piety 



312 



FRANKLIN FORBES. 



was his, a piety that grew out of the realization of "the 
boundless efTficiency of love." Meanwhile a statement made 
by him in regard to Robert Burns applies equally well to 
himself: " He scorned h}^pocrisy and canting pretence; he 
resisted attempts to fetter his reason in the trammels of 
theological dogma." When the Town Hall was dedicated 
he gave as a motto to guide in its future use "Magna est 
Veritas et prevalebit," "Truth is mighty and it will prevail." 
He was intolerant of intolerance. He believed that truth 
was the outcome of free discussion. He especially con- 
demned every attempt "to establish an exclusive party," 
and claimed religious fellowship with all who loved God and 
their fellow-men. 

As early as 1827, we find Mr. Forbes, then a youth of 
sixteen, deeply interested in charitable work. At that time, 
he was one of the organizers and original officers of the 
Young Men's Benevolent Society of Boston, which has since 
been so efficient in "alleviating suffering and poverty * * * 
and promoting the growth of benevolent principles and 
habits among young men." 

In 1844-5, he was the first secretary of the " Lowell Mis- 
sionary Society." Of his work in this connection, Rev. 
Horatio Wood has said: "As secretary of the missionary 
society, he gave full proof of his interest and his deep sense 
of its claims upon his position. He seemed to be always at 
the right hand of the elected minister, calling frequently to 
learn of his experience and doings in the new field and to 
see if there was anything that he could do to help him, with 
a thrill of feeling that always coursed through his words. 
He was at the Free Chapel every Sunday, played the organ 
some time and afterward took the lead of the choir. Not 
only this, he observed every person brought into the Chapel, 
and informed himself of the history and circumstances of 
the prominent cases of poverty and reform as no one has 
done since. This fitted him to write that excellent report of 
the missionary society published in June, 1845, giving a his- 




Franklin Forbes. 



WORK AS A CITIZEN. 313 

tory of the establishment of the Ministry-at-I.arge with an 
accurac}' and glow, with a faith in its permanence and a God- 
speed, touching and very creditable to his soul. This, Mr. 
Forbes did while acting as principal of the High School and 
discharging his duties with eminent fidelity, and at the same 
time pursuing diligently classical and literary studies." 

Immediately after he came to Clinton, he became inter- 
este-d in the organization of a Unitarian Church here. The 
story of his work is best told by his last pastor, Rev. Charles 
Noyes: "Not an original member of this religious society, 
he allied himself with it immediately after taking his resi- 
dence here and has ever been its firm, steady, constant sup- 
porter, always ready with word of counsel when asked for it, 
and seconding every effort to strengthen it. In the building 
of this church edifice and in its restoration, he was the larg- 
est contributor, and, if the facts were but known to you, 
most of you would be surprised at the record of his bounty. 
However large the draught upon his time or means he made 
no complaints, ever ready to spend and be spent, in your, 
and in religious service; his life and example have been with 
us a pillar of strength. Constant in his attendance upon 
every service, for a long time he was your organist, and 
superintendent of the Sunday school, an example worthy of 
emulation by all, of strong faith that showed itself in deeds. 
What a debt we owe to him!"' 

His love for his fellowmen and the services he rendered 
them were not confined b}' the narrow limits of the religious 
society to which he belonged. He felt that all the employes 
under his charge had special claim upon him beyond the 
payment of wages. While he never interfered with their 
personal liberty, he strove to the utmost to relieve all suffer- 
ing and to furnish every possible opportunity for improve- 
ment and enjo}'ment. Even this field was not large enough 
to give full play to his sympathies. A neighbor says: "Who- 
ever had a meritorious claim on human charity was never 
turned empty awa}'." 



314 FRANKLIN FORBES. 

It was in his home that the personality of Mr. Forbes 
revealed itself with the greatest charm. Here, his keen wit, 
his sportive humor, and his tender sympathies found their 
fullest'expression. Soon after he became agent of Lancaster 
Mills, the house on Chestnut Street, near the head of Union, 
was built, and here he resided until his death. Although the 
home was always the center of Mrs. Forbes life, she ably 
seconded her husband's efforts in the Unitarian Society and 
in benevolent work of all kinds, especially that connected 
with the Civil War. Two sons and four daughters grew to 
maturity. Their history belongs to later times. 

As a citizen of the town, in addition to his great work in 
educational lines, he performed numerous other services 
which made enormous demands on his time and energy. 
His services as chief engineer of the fire department deserve 
special mention. He was chairman of the building commit- 
tee of the town hall, and the noble simplicity of that struc- 
ture in its original state was largely due to him. The ceme- 
tery, too, owes much of its beauty to his taste and the work 
he did as chairman of the committee in charge. Much more 
than half the money raised by the town during the time that 
he was a citizen was expended by committees in which he 
acted as chairman. Every one had the most implicit trust 
in his honesty and judgment. Even while the shadow of 
death was alread}' falling upon him, he wrote a most careful 
report on the best method of abating the " Counterpane Pond 
Nuisance." He was not only willing but eager "to spend 
and be spent in the cause" of his brother man which he 
recognized as the same as that "of his Maker." 

In public enterprises not under municipal control he took 
no less interest. His name was first on the list in the legis- 
lative act by which the Clinton Savings Bank was incor- 
porated in 1851. He was vice-president until the death of 
H. N. Bigelow in 1868, and president from that time until 
his death. He also served on the finance committee. The 



WORK AS A CITIZEN. 



315 



office was for some years in the counting room of the Lan- 
caster Mills. It would be interesting to know how far his 
influence led the workmen to make deposits of money. It 
is sure the prudential doctrines of Franklin met with full 
appreciation from Mr. Forbes. He was also a director of 
the First National Bank of Clinton from the beginning. He 
was a leading organizer of the Clinton Gas Light Com- 
pany and was president from 1854 to his death. He was a 
director of the Gibbs Loom Harness and Reed Company. 

In national politics, he was a Whig and a Republican. 
Jul)' 4, 1854, he acted as president in the great local celebra- 
tion and made a stirring speech on national issues. June 14, 
1856, he was president of "a large and enthusiastic meeting" 
held in Clinton Hall in behalf of the Free State settlers in 
Kansas. In a speech full of ringing eloquence, he said: "We 
see our fellow-citizens in Kansas * * * unjustly restrained 
from the peaceful pursuit of their business; their houses in- 
vaded; their property plundered; their liberties abridged; 
their lives endangered, because the}' are freemen and the 
advocates of freedom to others." He called in no uncertain 
tones for measures to rebuke the "encroachment of the 
slave-oligarchy." Resolutions glowing with righteous indig- 
nation and love of freedom were passed, and a committee 
was appointed to collect a relief fund for the Kansas emi- 
grants. The story of the unbounded patriotism of Mr. 
Forbes during the Civil War, his burning words, his self- 
sacrificing deeds, will be told elsewhere, but the reader must 
recall that story here if he would appreciate the full nobility 
of his life.* What his fellow-citizens thought of him may 
be judged from the fact that, in the midst of the bitter feel- 
ings engendered by war, he was elected to the state legisla- 
ture of 1864 with but one opposing vote. 

It seems scarcely possible that all these phases of public 
activity should have been only the overflow of surplus 

*See chapters on Civil War. 



3l6 FRANKLIN FORBES. 

energy from the main work of his life. Yet the Lancaster 
Mills was always the center of his interests. The success of 
its business was his chief object. No personal labor or sac- 
rifice was too great, which might tend to this result. He 
was the heart of the concern, and throbbing pulses of power 
were sent from him into every part. Great as were the 
results of his labors in other directions, the development of 
the Lancaster Mills was the most important work he did for 
Clinton and for the world. 

When Mr. Forbes resigned his position as principal of the 
Lowell High School in 1846, he accepted an appointment as 
a civil engineer for the Locks and Canals Company. He was 
at this time thirty-five years of age. He had been destined 
by his parents for the ministry; he had been led by circum- 
stances to follow the profession of the teacher and he had 
devoted himself for a while to the study of law. There can 
be no doubt that he would have succeeded in either of the 
other professions as well as in teaching, for he was a man of 
evenly balanced faculties, capable of special development in 
any direction, with the full force of a well rounded manhood 
behind. Great as were his literary talents, he did not find in 
any of the learned professions "the niche he wished to 
occupy for life." 

James B. Francis had been appointed chief engineer of 
the Locks and Canal Company of Lowell the year before. 
It was his duty to manage the water power of the entire 
city. He was a man of great ability and is known as one of 
the world's foremost hydraulic engineers. During the four 
years while Mr. Forbes was with him, his two most famous 
works were constructed. The first of these was the North- 
ern Canal. We are told: "It would be considered a stu- 
pendous task in these days of improved methods, and for 
that early time it was a work that challenged the admiration 
of the engineering world." The second was the "Grand 
Locks," a massive gateway, which in after years saved the 
city from destruction. Although Mr. Forbes worked in a 



LANCASTER MILLS. 



317 



subordinate position on these great undertakings, yet he dis- 
played such power of leadership that, in 1850, two important 
positions were offered him, the agency of the Lowell Bleach- 
ery and that of the Lancaster Mills. He accepted the latter. 

We have already studied the condition of the Lancaster 
Mills at the time of his entr}- upon his work as agent. The 
construction and equipment had been completed under 
charge of H. N. Bigelow and work was fairly under way in 
all the departments, but no dividends had been paid. Dur- 
ing the first year of Mr. Forbes' management, a dividend of 
three per cent was declared and from that time on until the 
time of his death there was never a year without some profit 
for division, and there was very little mill stock in the coun- 
try that paid as well. The shares, which sold for between 
three hundred and four hundred dollars when he became 
agent, after many fluctuations brought eight hundred and 
fifty dollars in the market in 1875, ^^ ^ P^r value of four 
hundred dollars. Notwithstanding the large and regular 
dividends, there was still enough undivided profit to greatly 
increase the plant. This increase was especially made be- 
tween 1863-1877. The machinery of the Clinton Company 
was purchased in 1863. A deed of the Sawyers Mills prop- 
erty was received from this company in the summer of the 
same year for fifty-five thousand dollars. The carding and 
picker buildings were put up in 1868-9, the mule building in 
1875-6. Without tracing the process of construction and 
addition step by step, we may say that from 1850 to 1877 the 
number of looms increased from five hundred and fifty to 
one thousand five hundred and twenty, with a proportionate 
increase in every other part of the mills. 

Mr. Forbes' experience as a hydraulic engineer stood 
him in good stead as the agent of Lancaster Mills. From 
1850 to 1857, several hundred acres of land, partly in Clinton 
and partly in Boylston, were purchased for flowage purposes, 
but a large portion of it was soon sold again after rights had 
been secured. In 1867, the dam was partially rebuilt, a stone 



3i8 FRANKLIN FORBES. 

cap taking the place of the wooden one. This was done for 
safety rather than for increase of power, since the height was 
raised only about a foot. An immense gain in power was 
made, however, by substituting two Boyden turbine wheels 
for the three breast wheels previously in use. Seven hun- 
dred horse-power was secured instead of the two hundred 
and twenty-five. The guard gates were also built by Mr. 
Forbes. An additional engine was put up in 1871, and the 
old one replaced by another in 1875, giving a gain of three 
hundred and fifty horse-power. 

The number of employes had not increased proportionally 
to the plant, however, as through improvement in processes, 
especially in carding and spinning, the operatives averaged 
much greater results than at first. In 1850, two hundred 
males and four hundred and eighty-eight females were em- 
ployed. In 1877, there were six hundred and five males and 
five hundred and sixty females. It will be noticed that, 
while the number of males had grown threefold, the number 
of females was but little larger than at first. The product 
increased in a much greater ratio than the number of opera- 
tives, for the former gained seventy per cent and the latter 
nearly two hundred, that is, the product rose from five mil- 
lions three hundred and sixty-eight thousand and fifty-two 
yards to fifteen millions one hundred and twenty-one thou- 
sand seven hundred and eight yards. Meanwhile the average 
wages of the females in all departments increased from three 
dollars and ninety-three cents per week of seventy-four and 
three-fourths hours to five dollars and eighty-nine cents per 
week of sixty hours. The increase in the wages of the males 
was in about the same ratio. All the operatives shared in 
profits arising from the gain in production in proportion to 
number of employes. 

The changes which were taking place in the population 
of the manufacturing community at large made a correspond- 
ing change in the race of the mill operatives here. The 
Yankees decreased in numbers while those of Irish, German 



LANCASTER MILLS. 



319 



or Scotch birth increased. Mr. Forbes encouraged all the 
workmen who were able to do so to build houses and estab- 
lish homes of their own, for he believed that, in this way, 
they would become more thrifty and more inclined to make 
Clinton a permanent home. Thus hundreds of houses, many 
of them acquired through Mr. Forbes' assistance, were built 
upon the Acre and Wilson Hill on land sold to the work- 
men by the corporation at a nominal price. The German 
Village began to assume its present proportions during the 
latter part of Mr. Forbes' agency. As has already been 
noted, only two tenement houses, one on Cross Street and 
one on Green Street, were built after 1850. 

Up to 1854, the time of work had averaged twelve and a 
half hours a day. From that time to 1875, ^t averaged eleven 
hours per day, and since 1875 ten hours constitute a day's 
work. The time-table which went into operation in 1854 re- 
quired work from seven o'clock in the morning to seven at 
night, with forty-five minutes for dinner, the year round, 
except upon Saturdays when the work stopped at four. 
Although this table shortened the time about eight and a 
half hours per week, yet it required the men to light up in 
the evening a few weeks later in the spring. Previously 
there had been no work by lamp or gas light in the evening 
after March 20th, which was commonly known as the "Blow- 
ing out time." The interference with this old custom in the 
new adjustment caused a strike, the only serious affair of the 
kind with which Mr. Forbes ever had to deal. March 20th, 
about two hundred operatives left the mill at six o'clock as 
they had done in previous years. The agent felt that it was 
the right of the corporation to arrange its own hours of labor 
and, after a brief struggle, the operatives yielded. Some 
fifty were discharged for connection with this affair. 

In September, 1857, the small demand for goods and the 
stringency of the money market compelled the directors of 
the Lancaster Mills to reduce the running to half time. Cir- 
cumstances demanded that the mills should be closed alto- 



320 



FRANKLIN FORBES. 



gether, but the earnest entreaties of Mr. Forbes persuaded 
the directors to sacrifice their pecuniary advantage to the 
good of the employes. Mr. Forbes used every means to 
make the period of enforced idleness from manual labor a 
time of mental improvement. Immediately after half time 
was declared, a reading room was established at Lancaster 
Mills. A course of free lectures was organized by Mr. 
Forbes to be given by local talent on successive Wednesday 
evenings in Clinton Hall. The Courant of October 24th 
says: "We cannot forbear a personal reference to the agent 
of Lancaster Mills, who seems the very incarnation of effi- 
ciency in devising plans and pushing them through, in order 
to furnish employment and entertainment for the mind. 
Times like the present bring out the greatness of such men 
and show their value in a community." At the end of Octo- 
ber, the Lancaster Mills still further reduced its time of run- 
ning by closing up entirely Saturdays. In November, some 
forty Irish immigrants returned home. So great was the 
depression that the stock of Lancaster Mills sold at two 
hundred and twenty-five dollars per share for a short time. 
Work was resumed on full time in January, 1858. 

During the times of idleness between 1857 and 1863, an 
afternoon and evening school was opened. The boys and 
men were taught by George W. Weeks in the basement of 
the A. P. Burdett building. Rev. William Gushing came 
over occasionally to give lessons in Latin. The girls met in 
the hall in the building where G. W. Field has his store. 
Daniel W. Kilburn was teacher. Mr. Forbes had a general 
oversight of the whole and did some teaching. 

From 1861 to 1864 there was a long period of depression. 
Fortunately the mills owned a large quantity of cotton pur- 
chased at a low price. Out of this a considerable profit was 
made. The average amount of work in 1861, was one hun- 
dred and seventy-eight days; in 1862, one hundred and fifty 
and one-half days; in 1863, two hundred and forty-eight 
days; and in 1864, three hundred days. 



LANCASTER MILLS. 



321 



In 1866, exhausted by his labors and anxieties during the 
Civil War and the pressure of the work that came from the 
rapid development of the mill after the war was over, Mr. 
Forbes found himself obliged to seek rest. George W. 
Weeks was made superintendent of the mill. For years, 
since Jotham D. Otterson had gone away, there had been no 
superintendent, but the agent had acted directly through the 
overseers. Mr. Forbes went to Europe. He returned re- 
freshed after three months of travel and resumed his duties. 
To his work as agent and the public responsibilities which 
he accepted, he added a private business as a manufacturer 
at FuUerville. In the early seventies, his health began to 
give way under the strain. His nervous system received a 
severe shock from the sudden death of his daughter, Mrs. 
Henry N. Bigelow, November i, 1876. One after another, 
he reluctantly gave up his duties, outside of the mill or left 
them more and more to his subordinates. Inside of the 
mill, the superintendent was given greater and greater re- 
sponsibilities as Mr. Forbes felt his strength failing. Decem- 
ber 24, 1877, after an illness of five weeks' duration he passed 
away. 

If we seek to find the causes which underlie the success 
of Mr. Forbes as a mill agent we shall discover them in the 
same elements of mind and character which gave him so 
much power as a school-master and public servant. We 
might speak again of his integrity, his justice, his com- 
prehensiveness, the. breadth of his culture, his ability to 
trace the relation of cause and effect, the warmth of his 
heart, the strength of his will, the delicacy of his tact. He 
had all these and they all contributed to the crowning cause 
for his success. He was a natural leader of men. Others 
may have had more mechanical ability than he or have been 
more closely acquainted with the details of manufacturing, 
but there have been few who have had a keener perception 
of human character. He knew how to choose the best man 



322 



FRANKLIN FORBES. 



to accomplish his object and how to keep him working at 
his utmost until his task was done. Although, when occa- 
sion demanded, he let it be clearly seen that his will was 
law, and though he was the master of a merciless sarcasm 
with which he could goad the idle drone or wither the 
boasting pretender, yet he was usually the most affable of 
leaders. Every man in his employ felt that much was ex- 
pected of him and was inspired with a desire not to be found 
lacking by one who required of himself more than he asked 
from others. 

It was a source of great benefit to our town that its lead- 
ing industry should be managed in its infancy by a man of 
such rare executive power, since the community has ever 
drawn its life from the mills and has grown only with their 
growth. For more than a score of years his public spirit, 
his ability as a man of affairs, his culture, his liberality of 
views and the all embracing nature of his sympathies made 
him our foremost citizen, constantly leading towards wise 
and noble ends and meanwhile he was nourishing the roots 
of our municipal life by his special work as the agent of the 
Lancaster Mills. 



CHAPTER XXI. 
EMPLOYEES OF LANCASTER MILLS. 

When Mr. Forbes entered upon his duties as agent of 
the Lancaster Mills he found Jotham D. Otterson acting as 
superintendent. He had been called hither by the Bigelows 
years before from the agency of the mill at Hookset, N. H. 
He was a practical mechanic, thoroughly acquainted with 
the details of cotton manufacturing. In such matters, both 
H. N. Bigelow and Franklin Forbes deferred to him. He 
bore for a time somewhat the same relation to these men 
that J. B. Parker bore to E. B. Bigelow. He was already a 
man of mature age and long experience in his business. He 
was a man of strict religious views and a member of the 
Orthodox Church. He lived on Mechanic Street. James 
Otterson, his son, was sent to England with J. B. Parker 
to set up the first carpet loom for E. B. Bigelow. When 
Jotham D. Otterson left Clinton, he went to Nashua, N. H., 
where he met with a large measure of success in the foundry 
business. He was, at one time, mayor of that city. 

In addition to Mr. Forbes and Mr. Otterson, a notable 
body of men and boys worked in the Lancaster Mills office 
between 1850 and 1865. Charles L. Swan was paymas- 
ter from 1848. As treasurer of the Clinton Savings Bank 
he received deposits at the mill. As he held other positions 
of greater importance his life will be considered elsewhere, 
yet the seven years which he spent in this office, the methods 
of work which he established and the training he gave to 
those under his charge, left a permanent impress. 



324 EMPLOYEES OF LANCASTER MILLS. 

When he resigned in 1855, Henry Bowman was called 
from the Courant office to become his successor. As he was 
born September 9, 1834, he had not as yet reached his 
majority. Yet he was already known as one of the most 
promising young men in the community. He was especially 
prominent in the Rhetorical Society. Elsewhere we shall 
have occasion to note his services as an officer of the Light 
Guard. In 1861, he entered the army as captain of Company 
C, Fifteenth Massachusetts Regiment, and afterwards became 
Colonel of the Thirty-sixth. His war record belongs to an- 
other chapter of our history. He did not reside in Clinton 
after the war, but sought and gained success in business in 
the distant West. 

James Monroe Ingalls was errand boy. His spare mo- 
ments were spent in studying mathematics and laying the 
foundation of that knowledge which was in later times to 
make him an instructor in artillery practice at Fort Monroe, 
and one of the leading authorities of the world on ballistics.* 
Later, James A. Morgan, the present paymaster ot the mills, 
was office boy.f 

D. W. Kilburn was the first clerk or assistant to the pay- 
master in the office, but he soon withdrew to the cloth room. 
George W. Weeks, J who had entered the mill at the age of 
thirteen as an errand boy in 185 1, was made his successor. 
Although at times he left the office to pursue his studies for 
a few months at the High School, yet he still kept up his 
connection with the mills, so that we may consider his forty- 
five years of service as continuous. So closely was he iden- 
tified during these years with the Lancaster Mills, that the 
corporation seems to some of his co-workers as hardly more 
than the outer coating of his personality. No one has ever 
known the construction of the mills, the details of the 



* See Philip L. Morgan, also War Record. 
tSee James Ingalls. 
I See James A. Weeks. 



GEORGE W. WEEKS. 



325 



machiner)' and all the varied processes of manufacture as 
thoroughl}- as he. Although he did not obtain patents for 
any great inventions, yet he made many minor improvements 
which in the aggregate increased the production of the plant 
in a remarkable degree. There were no loose ends in his 
work, no waste. The total amount of available forces used 
always balanced accurately with the total results secured. 
But his story belongs to later histor}-. Yet even in his boy- 
hood he displayed those qualities which were to make him 
the paymaster in 1861, the superintendent in 1866, the worthy 
successor of Franklin Forbes in 1877, ^"^1 a recognized leader 
among the manufacturers of the countr)- before he retired 
from the agency in 1896. Passing by his early connection 
with the Rhetorical Society, the Unitarian Society and the 
schools, we find that there is one department of the life of 
our community in which his work was such that it must re- 
ceive mention. No one gave as much time or rendered such 
efficient service to the Bigelow Library Association as he. 
For years he acted as librarian and hundreds of pages of the 
records of the secretary and treasurer are in his hand-writing. 
Since the library has come under the control of the town, he 
has continued his fostering care, and to those who know his 
work in this direction he seems almost as closely identified 
with the library as with the Lancaster Mills. 

James A. Weeks, the son of Jonathan Weeks and father 
of George W., was born in Alstead, N. H., in 181 1, February 
7th. He belonged to the well known Weeks family which 
lived in Marlboro. He worked on the farm of his uncle, 
Solomon Weeks of Marlboro, from early boyhood. From 
the age of fourteen to twenty he drew wood nearly every 
winter from Marlboro to Boston. He married Caroline Hall 
of Brewster, Mass., June 19, 1835. At twenty, he went to 
Waltham and began work in the picker room of a cotton 
mill. His son, George W. Weeks, was born in Waltham in 
1838. James A. Weeks was soon promoted and had charge 
of various departments of the mill. His health being poor, 



326 EMPLOYEES OF LANCASTER MILLS. 

he gave up his position there and entered the provision busi- 
ness. He had a market at first in Waltham, then in Boston. 
In 1849, h^ came to Clintonville and took charge of the work 
done on a division of Bigelow's new looms at Lancaster 
Mills. In 1850, he went into the winding department, where 
he soon became overseer, and here he remained until 1865. 
He then served for ten years as superintendent of Sawyers 
Mills in Boylston, which had been purchased by Lancaster 
Mills. He was postmaster and selectman in Boylston. He 
was a great lover of music and was a chorister in the Baptist 
Society, and afterwards in the Unitarian. He died February 
22, 1887. 

Henry Shedd came to Clinton from Shirley Village in 
1853 to work in the Coachlace Mill. In 1865, he followed 
James A. Weeks as overseer of the winding and quilling 
in the Lancaster Mills. He died in 1884 at the age of fifty- 
eight. His son, Charles H. Shedd, entered the Lancaster 
Mills office, where he has served for many years. 

Donald Cameron, a native of Inverness in the Highlands 
of Scotland, died August 3, 1869, at the age of sixty-nine. 
He came to Clintonville in 1844. He at once took charge 
of the dye-house at Lancaster Mills. He lived in the cor- 
poration building known as the Cameron house, which was 
connected by a foot-bridge with the mills. Cameron Mill 
was named from him. He was fatally burned June 17, 1869, 
by an accident while at work in the mills. He had a large 
family. One of his sons, Angus Cameron, became promi- 
nent as a journalist and had a noble war record.* Another, 
James F., has been engaged in business in New York and 
Boston ; Walter M. has filled most responsible positions in 
connection with the Metropolitan Steamship Company and 
other interests of Henry M. Whitney of Boston. Angus 
Walker, also of Scotch descent, was second-hand in the dye- 
house. He has since had charge of a dye-house in Holyoke. 

*See War Record. 



JOSEPH C. SMITH. 327 

William Orr, another Scotchman, was a pattern weaver 
for many years. He was especially prominent for his con- 
nection with the Orthodox Church. 

Absalom Lord was overseer of the carding. He was a 
native of Athol, and before he came here in 1849 had been 
a boss-carder in Barre and Winchendon. He was a man of 
property. He built the David Haskell house on Chestnut 
Street. He was a Democrat in politics, a Unitarian in re- 
ligion. After living here for some years, he bought a farm 
in West Boylston and moved thither. James Needham fol- 
lowed him as overseer in this department. He was the son 
of Henry Needham and was born in Dedham August 17, 
1816. He went to work in a mill in Dorchester at the age 
of eight. He was also employed as a stone-cutter in Quincy 
before he came to Clinton about 1847. He married Caroline 
B. Murphy, July 18, 1838, and they had nine children. He 
was very popular as an overseer. He died May 27, 1878. 
His son, James A., followed him as overseer of the carding. 

The man who held the position in the mill next in im- 
portance to the superintendent was the overseer of the 
machine shop, Joseph C. Smith. He was a }'oung man of 
versatile talents; a most excellent machinist, a musician and 
a man of considerable literary ability. He remained in this 
position twelve years, until his death, April 30, 1859. A 
friend isays of him: " He was .straightforward in the duties of 
his calling, scrupulous and exacting in the employment of 
his time, husbanding his means with a wise economy, yet 
always liberal in the demands of true benevolence; genial in 
his intercourse with men and warm-hearted in his friend- 
ships." He "found it easy to express himself with vigor 
and propriety." "Temperance and freedom had no firmer 
or more earnest friend than he." 

George M. Lourie, a Scotchman, who died in West Boyl- 
ston, June 25, 1895, where he was agent of the Clarendon 
Mills, succeeded Joseph C. Smith as head of the machine 
shop. Mr. Lourie was born at Bannockburn, Scotland, 



328 EMPLOYEES OF LANCASTER MILLS. 

March ii, 1830. His father was a carpet loom fixer, and is 
said to have woven the first Brussels carpet in the United 
States. The boy passed his childhood in Enfield, Ct.; here 
he learned the trade of the machinist. He married Alice 
Dicksen in 1850. The following year he came to Clinton to 
work for J. B. Parker. He was a Congregationalist and 
prominent as a Free Mason and Odd Fellow. He went to 
West Boylston in the seventies. The record of his younger 
brother, William, belongs to more recent times. 

Samuel Beaven came from England to America in 1844. 
He first went to Dudley, but came to Clintonville to work in 
the machine shop of the Clinton Company in the fall of the 
same year. He worked as a machinist, loom-fixer, engineer 
and general utility man at the Lancaster Mills for many 
years. He kept the " Big Boarding-House" for a time. He 
died July 4, 1877. 

Calvin Stanley, who came here in 1847 from Winchendon, 
had charge of the weaving room. He was one of the select- 
men of the town in 1851-52. In 1853, he went to Dixfield, 
Me., where he became a grocer. He remained there until 
his death. He, like the rest of the overseers of the various 
departments, received three dollars a day. In i860, the 
wages were increased to three dollars and fifty cents. The 
work of the weavers was entirely piece work. Alvin Whit- 
ing, a native of Dedham, who had come to town in 1846, 
and who had been second-hand while Mr. Stanle}^ was over- 
seer, succeeded him in the charge of the room. He has 
held that position until the present day. In length of service 
and in the number of operatives who have been under his 
direct charge, he has exceeded any overseer who has ever 
been in Clinton. 

Philip L. Morgan, a native of Palmer, born in 1813, was 
overseer of the winding, reeling and dressing, various de- 
partments being added or withdrawn from his work as cir- 
cumstances demanded. He had previously worked in Barre 
and Winchendon. We have already spoken of his son, 



JAMES LOGAN. 329 

James A. Morgan. Philip L. Morgan came to Clintonville 
in 1848 and remained in his position in the mill until his 
resignation in 1887. He was selectman of the town in 1861-3. 
He is still living among us, and it is to his memory that we 
are indebted for man)' of the facts which are here recorded 
in regard to his associates. Levi Carter, who came to Clin- 
tonville in 1846, is said to have run the first dresser in the 
mills. 

Jacob Wilson was overseer of the mule room. He built a 
house on Wilson Hill, which thus obtained its name. He 
went to Hookset, N. H., to take charge of a mule room 
there. He afterwards became a farmer. After he went away, 
Eneas Morgan had charge of the mule room. At first, Frank, 
Cook was second-hand. Mr. Morgan came here from Low- 
ell. He was a Unitarian. He was a member of the school 
committee from i860 to '65. He went to Worcester, where he 
manufactured plate for tin-t)'pes and a variet}- of other 
things. He was followed b}' James Logan, who had been 
his second-hand. 

James Logan was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in Decem- 
ber, 1827. His father was a cotton spinner, and the boy 
having attended the schools of his native city learned his 
father's trade. He came to America while a youth and 
worked for a time in the mills at West Boylston. He came 
to Clintonville in 1847 to work for the Lancaster Mills. He 
was overseer of the mule spinning room for twenty-five 
years. He remained in the service of the Lancaster Mills 
over forty years. He married Ellen S. Felton in 1856. 
They attended the Unitarian Church. They lived in a house 
which they built on Walnut Street. Mr. Logan died Decem- 
ber 29, 1891. 

James Wrigley, an Englishman, had charge of the finish- 
ing. The work in this department was done by the job. 
He owned the house on High Street afterwards known as 
the Otterson place. He built a group of tenement houses 
on the Acre. Old inhabitants still speak of the section 



330 



EMPLOYEES OF LANCASTER MILLS. 



which these occupied as Wrigley's Yard. Mr. Wrigley went 
from here to Lewiston, Me., and thence to Worcester, where 
he became the forwarding agent for Washburn & Moen. He 
died July 12, 1883, at the age of sixty-eight. 

Roger Eccles, who afterwards gave his life for his coun- 
try during the Civil War, had charge of the singeing of the 
ginghams. When the process of singeing gave way to 
shearing, James Greenwood, who was born at Leeds, York- 
shire, England, September 29, 1810, took charge of it. The 
father of this James Greenwood was a school teacher, yet 
the circumstances of the family were such that the boy had 
to begin to earn his own living at eight years of age. He 
married Sarah Marlow in Leeds, England. They had three 
children, John W., Henry, and one daughter. He came to 
the United States in the winter of 1839, and after a voyage 
of thirteen weeks was shipwrecked on Long Island. He 
worked in a woolen mill in North Anson, Maine. This mill 
was closed and he wandered from place to place until he 
finally reached Worcester in June, 1851. He visited a 
machine shop and was told that the Lancaster Mills in Clin- 
ton were having trouble in introducing the new process of 
shearing. Although he had always worked on broadcloth 
he thought he would come to Clinton and see if there was 
any opening for him. Mr. Forbes eagerly seized the oppor- 
tunity to engage the services of an expert, and Mr. Green- 
wood settled here at once. He invented a contraction and 
expansion roller by which the checks in the gingham were 
kept even. He obtained a patent, but sold his right to the 
Lancaster Mills. He soon became overseer of the finishing 
considered as a whole. He worked by contract and is said 
to have had a very large income. Mr. Greenwood was a 
large hearted man, full of charity. He married as a second 
wife Jane Lovelass, by whom he had one son, James, and a 
daughter. He owned the estate known as Wrigley's Yard. 
Two of his sons, John and Henry, are now overseers in the 
Lancaster Mills. James is a journalist. The father died 
November 26, 1894. 



JAMES INGALLS. 33I 

W. W. Parker had charge of the cloth room with Daniel 
W. Kilburn as his second-hand. We shall find both these 
men leaders in the affairs of the Congregational Church; 
both became ministers. 

Thomas Haverty, an Irishman, looked after those who 
had charge of bundling the yarn. He was afterwards in 
charge of the post-office department of A. T. Stewart's store 
in New York. 

Robert J. Finnie was the boss carpenter for thirty-five 
years. He is a Scotchman, and was born at Millport, Feb- 
ruary, 1822. His father, Robert, was a ship builder. He 
attended a High School. He did his first work in Clinton- 
ville on Mr. Forbes' house on Chestnut Street, under Jonas 
E. Howe as contractor, in 1851. He married a sister of 
Samuel Beaven. For some years he had charge of the " Big 
Boarding-House." He bought the Bailey estate on Chestnut 
Street in his later years, where he is still living. His son, 
James B., has been for some years boss of the yard. 

James Ingalls worked as a carpenter for Lancaster Mills. 
He was born at Canterbury, N. H., Januar)' 24, 1791. His 
father, Samuel Ingalls, a farmer, moved to Ryegate, Vt., 
when James was four }'ears old. The boy acquired such an 
education at the district school that he was capable of teach- 
ing. He also learned the trade of a carpenter. For thirty 
years, he alternated summer work at his trade with winter 
work as a teacher at Ryegate, Vt., and elsewhere. He mar- 
ried Mary Cass of Lyman, N. H. They had nine children. 
Mr. Ingalls came to Clintonville in the spring of 1848 at the 
suggestion of his son, Daniel B. Ingalls. One of his first jobs 
was tearing down the old Pitts mill. After working for some 
years for the corporation, he started in business on his own 
account as a carpentering jobber. He built a house for him- 
self on the east side of Boylston Street. Two of his sons-in- 
law, Hiram Miner and Dwight Brown, built houses near by. 
He was a conservative Congregationalist. He was the local 
leader of the "American" or "Know Nothing" party and 



332 EMPLOYEES OF LANCASTER MILLS. 

served in the General Court in 1855. He was on the school 
committee in 1852-3. He moved from Clinton to Wisconsin 
about 1856. He died in Madison, in that state. 

John A. Otterson succeeded Mr. Pollard as the overseer 
of the Lancaster Mills yard. Here he remained for some 
years. He came from Lowell to Clintonville in 1848. At a 
later time, he bought the Wrigley cottage on High Street. 
He died in 1868. Charles A. and Henry N. are his sons. 
The third overseer was Neil Carmichael. He remained 
here only one year, but went in 1854 to California. The 
fourth overseer was George S. Folsom, a native of Maine, born 
in 1826. He came to Clinton in the early fifties and was over- 
seer of the yard for many years. He died January 19, 1884. 
Moses Greenough was the painter. He kept a boarding- 
house on Green Street. He died while in the employ of the 
mills. 

In the earliest times the operatives in the mills were for 
the most part natives of this country, but as manufacturing 
rapidly developed in the middle of the present century, the 
supply of workmen became unequal to the demand. Mean- 
while in Europe the relation of supply to demand was such 
that the condition of the laboring classes was far from satis- 
factory. Therefore a vast number of immigrants began 
to arrive on our shores. A few came from England and 
Scotland. A considerable portion of these had some ac- 
quaintance with the textile arts. As skilled workmen were 
rare, these men, if they possessed executive ability, were able 
to secure lucrative positions. We have found man}^ of them 
becoming overseers and most substantial citizens. Although 
these English and Scotch retained to a considerable extent 
their race characteristics and symyathies, yet they became 
so united with the original citizens that their stor}' is insep- 
arable. 

The number of Irish immigrants, who found a home in 
Clinton and employment in the mills, exceeded that of all 



WILLIAM GOTTLOB BECK. 333 

others combined. Few of them had had any opportunity to 
learn the textile arts before coming hither and were therefore 
obliged to begin at the bottom. It was not many years, 
however, before their thrift enabled them to acquire prop- 
erty and build houses for themselves, and their progressive 
spirit gave them a leading place in the affairs of the com- 
munity. Their story calls for a separate chapter, and, if the 
later history of the town is ever written, it will be found that 
during the last quarter of the present century, every depart- 
ment of private and municipal life has been strongly influ- 
enced by them and their descendants. 

Among the workers in the Lancaster Mills, there was a 
considerable body of Germans, even before the time of the 
Civil War. The work of these Germans was for the most 
part confined to these mills during the first years of their 
stay among us, and they have always occupied a prominent 
and well defined place among the operatives. Hence it 
seems desirable to consider them in this connection. Per- 
haps their early story can best be suggested by considering 
in detail the life of one of them. 

William Gottlob Beck was the first German to settle in 
Clintonville, and his biography, with some variation of details, 
may be taken as a sample of that of his fellow countrymen 
who settled here. He was a native of Wurtemberg, while a 
considerable portion of his fellow immigrants came from 
Bavaria. He was born July 9, 1823. Like all German boys 
of his time, he attended school from the age of four until he 
was fourteen and obtained a good elementary education. 
According to the custom of his country in those days, after 
leaving school he was apprenticed to learn a trade. The 
trade in his case was that of a woolen weaver, and during 
the four years that he served, he learned all the various pro- 
cesses connected with the manufacture of woolen cloth, from 
the raw wool to the finished product. His weaving was of 
course done on a hand lOom. After his apprenticeship was 
ended he traveled about for some years, practicing his art 



334 



EMPLOYEES OF LANCASTER MILLS. 



and picking up new ideas. His father, who was a baker with- 
out any great amount of property, gave all his six sons an 
elementary education and a trade, but he could do no more 
for them. It required capital in those days for a man to carry 
on the weaver's trade, for no large factories had as yet been 
established and the business had not been centralized. It 
was necessary for each man to own his own machinery and 
to buy enough wool at the proper season to keep him in 
work until the season for shearing came round again. Now 
Mr. Beck did not have money enough to do this. He had 
heard of a country across the sea where a young man had a 
better chance to make his way in the world than in Germany, 
and in 1847, 1^^ resolved to emigrate. The chief point in 
which the story of some of our early German operatives dif- 
fered from that of Mr. Beck previous to leaving the father- 
land was in regard to military service. In those days, the 
standing army in Germany was smaller than now. The 
physical examination and the action of the lot relieved 
many from serving in time of peace. Mr. Beck escaped, 
but many of his fellow immigrants were obliged to serve 
their term in the army, some of them for six years. 

Mr. Beck, after a short stay at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 
where his brother had previously located, and a few weeks 
spent in Philadelphia, went to Mason Village (now Green- 
ville), N. H., and from there to Lawrence, Mass. Hearing 
of an opportunity for work in Clintonville he came here in 
1849, before the Lancaster Mills were fairly at work. It was 
very difficult at this time for the mill managers to get opera- 
tives who had been educated as weavers, and it was not long 
before Calvin Stanley, who was overseer of the weaving 
room, asked Mr. Beck if he could not get some of his coun- 
trymen who had learned their trade to come here. This re- 
quest was reinforced by a personal appeal from H. N. Bige- 
low. By means of direct solicitation a considerable num- 
ber of Germans were persuaded to -come to the Lancaster 
Mills, some from Mason Village, N. H., some from Law- 



THE GERMANS. 



335 



rence, some from South Hadley Falls, some from Webster 
and some direct from the fatherland. Before the Civil War 
there were some sixty male citizens of German birth in Clin- 
ton. The skill of these Germans soon gave them a good 
position in the mills and some of them became section 
hands. 

The noble records of the Germans during the Civil War 
will be given elsewhere. It is sufficient here to say, that 
forty-five of them, or about seventy-five per cent of the whole 
number of male citizens, enlisted. The names of thirteen 
are on our soldiers' monument. This is twenty-one percent 
of the whole number of male citizens. 

Although they were economical and laid up money, yet, 
at first, they were conservative in acquiring real estate, and 
did not care to build until they had money enough to fully 
pay for their houses. Thus none were assessed for real 
estate in the tax list of 1857, and very little was acquired 
until after the war. In the later sixties, the section north- 
east of the Lancaster Mills began to be known as the Ger- 
man Village, and one after another houses were erected until 
there were few of the Germans of middle age who were liv- 
ing in corporation houses. Most of them have married 
within their own race, although a few, like Mr. Beck, have 
found wives among those of Scotch, English or Irish descent. 
While they have been quick in acquiring the English lan- 
guage, yet the German has been chiefly used by the first 
generation of immigrants among themselves, and many of 
the second generation use the English and German equally 
well. 

The German organizations have all begun their existence 
since the Civil War. The Harugari started in 1866. It is 
an insurance society which pays to each of its members four 
dollars a week in case of sickness and five hundred to the 
heirs in case of death. The Turnverein, which was organized 
in 1867, pays special attention to physical development 
and social enjoyment. The Schiller Club, which is literary 



336 EMPLOYEES OF LANCASTER MILLS. 

in its nature, was not organized until 1869. The histories of 
all these societies belongs to a period subsequent to that 
with which we are dealing. 

In politics, the Germans have acted independently, some- 
times with one party, sometimes with the other, sometimes 
as a unit and sometimes with great diversity. In recent 
years, they have held many local offices. 

As children in Germany, most of them have received 
Lutheran training, but there are a few who were brought up 
as Catholics. Some have not allied themselves to any 
religious organizations in this country, while others have 
worshipped in various congregations, one here and another 
there. The organization of a German Church is of too 
recent origin to be dealt with in this work. 




Sidney Harris. 



CHAPTER XXII. 
MINOR INDUSTRIES. 

Sidney Harris, the youngest son of Daniel Harris,* was 
born October 8, 1804, in Bo) Iston. He attended school in 
District No. 10. From boyhood, he was accustomed to w^ork 
in the comb shops of his older brothers, Emory* and Asahel,* 
as well as upon the farm of his father. One from among his 
old account books has been preserved. It is called " Book 
I." In it, we find the record of his business development. 
Tradition has stated that he built the Harrisville dam in 
1823, but it was seldom that the young men of the early part 
of this century were independent of paternal control before 
they reached their majority, and it is not likely that a boy of 
nineteen built such a dam as this. Moreover, this "Book I" 
gives ample evidence that he first began business for himself 
in a small way when he became twenty-one. 

The first entries in 1825 show that he began by "cutting 
out combs" for his brothers, Asahel and Emory, and for 
various other men as well. He hired the machine with 
which he worked of Gardner Pollard. His business gradu- 
ally increased. He began "to make combs" as a whole. He 
was apparently never the, regular partner of either of his 
brothers. Sometimes, he made combs for each of them; 
sometimes, they made combs for him. Perhaps, they all 
worked together on any large order that either received. 
Before "Book I" was closed up in 1828, Sidney Harris had 

*See pages 176-182. 

23 



338 THE HARRIS COMB SHOPS. 

evidently become, as a comb-maker, the business equal of 
his brothers. 

Up to this time, he had lived at home, but, in this year, 
1828, he bought of his brother, Asahel, and his father, the 
homestead east of the river. It is hardly probable that he 
had acquired in four years through his own labors sufficient 
capital to pay two thousand dollars for a piece of property 
like this, so it is likely that his father may have helped him. 
In a list which he kept of his long series of real estate trans- 
actions, this stands at the beginning. This property was the 
nucleus around which grew that great aggregation of lands 
and houses which made him the chief individual tax-payer 
of the new town. September 13, 1829, he married Sally Kil- 
burn who had been born in Shirley, had lived in Lunenburg, 
and at this time, according to the records, had her residence 
in Lancaster. 

His manufacturing business from 1828 to 1830 or later 
was done in a shop near his new house, and there is no rea- 
son to suppose that the water privilege had been improved 
up to this time. The value of this water privilege in those 
times may be judged from the story that is told of a possible 
purchaser. A stranger was riding by one day and in an off- 
hand way offered three hundred dollars for it. The owner, 
though eager to accept the offer, apparently hesitated in 
order to obtain more. The man who made the offer, seeing 
that there was a disposition to sell, drove away at the top of 
his speed before he could be bound to a bargain. 

The first record we have of the dam was made in 1833, 
when Asahel and Sidney agreed to share equally the dam 
which they had jointly built. Asahel had the power on the 
western half, Sidney on the eastern. It was of the same height 
then, as it was in later times, that is, four and two-tenths 
feet. It was once swept away, but was rebuilt in its previous 
form. Once, flash-boards were so added that the dam was 
raised one foot, but the water flowed back on Lancaster 
Mills and there was some trouble which was settled by a sale 



SIDNEY HARRIS. 



339 



of one foot of the flow to that corporation. In later times, 
two water-wheels were used and an available force of some 
over fifty horse-power secured. 

Sidney probably had a small shop here for the manufac- 
ture of combs soon after the dam was completed, but Asahel 
could not have had any very extensive works here, since all 
that he did have, together with his half right in the dam and 
water privilege, passed into the hands of Sidney in 1835 ^^^ 
onl)' four hundred dollars. The buildings about the dam 
increased in number and size as the business developed. 
A picture has been preserved which was probably drawn 
before 1850. On the western side of the river, the only build- 
ing is a saw and grist mill moved from the Pitts Mills in 1844, 
while on the eastern side there is one large comb shop with 
several smaller buildings clustered about. At a later time, 
Mr. Harris built another large shop on the western side of 
the river.* The road was changed from its location beside 
the river to the present location of Branch Street to accom- 
modate the new shop on the west. Mr. Harris met with a 
loss by fire of five thousand dollars in January, 1853, at the 
comb shops, but rebuilding and repairs soon effaced all 
marks of the injury. 

During his last years, Sidney Harris was an invalid and 
gave up to his sons, Edwin A. and George S., the manage- 
ment of the comb business. His shops then employed from 
twenty-five to thirty workmen and the sales amounted to 
more than twenty thousand dollars per year. In 1857, the 
low valuation of the assessors puts the shops of S. Harris & 
Sons at six thousand four hundred dollars, machinery twelve 
hundred dollars and stock three thousand dollars. In the 
early portion of his life, he was his own buying and selling 
agent and made frequent trips to New York for this purpose. 

* These buildings, except the saw and grist mill, are for the most part 
standing with various changes of position and have recently been fitted 
up for tenements by the Lancaster Mills, 



340 THE HARRIS COMB SHOPS. 

He kept himself thoroughly in touch with the condition of 
the market and seldom made a poor business venture. Of 
his credit, one who knew him well said: "His word was as good 
as his bond, and his bond was as good as gold." 

Meanwhile he had invested extensively in real estate 
elsewhere. He had evidently let Lory F. Bancroft have 
money for the buildings at the corner of Union and High 
Streets, and they had fallen into his hands before 1850. He 
was also a large owner in the Worcester and Nashua Rail- 
road, and was one of those who did most to secure for this 
community the advantages of this road.* In 1857, which we 
may reckon as the close of his active career, his real estate 
was assessed at thirty-three thousand six hundred and sixty- 
one dollars, and his personal at twelve thousand three hun- 
dred and seventy-five, while the comb stock and machinery 
in the hands of S. Harris & Sons was assessed at four thou- 
sand two hundred dollars, a total of fifty thousand two hun- 
dred and thirty-six dollars, or more than was held by any 
other two individual tax-payers of Clinton combined. It 
will be seen from this estimate that the value of the comb 
shop had doubled. 

In 1838, Sidney Harris had become so prominent as a 
citizen that he was chosen one of the selectmen of Lancas- 
ter. The road from Harris bridge to Berlin and Boylston, 

* The extent of his property can best be seen from the following 
assessors' valuation: — 

Sidney Harris, 1850. 

House, barn and shops, ']'] acres $3,500 

Wood lots, 123 acres 2,740 

Water privilege, mills, etc 3,000 

Six houses 3.900 

Bancroft estate, store, etc 3,000 

Lowe estate 2,000 

$18,140 
Personal 9,000 

$27,140 



SIDNEY HARRIS. 34I 

constructed in part in 1845, must have added considerably 
to the value of his homestead. The road from Lancaster 
Mills to the Harris Comb Shops, which was built in 1848, 
originally followed the course of the river as far as Water 
Street. Sidney Harris was one of the leading men of School 
District No. 11, and, when it was united in 1847 with No. 10, 
he was one of the prudential committee of the united dis- 
tricts until Clinton was incorporated. By this committee, 
several new school-houses were built, among others, one on 
" Harris Hill." He was among the leaders in the movement 
for the division of Lancaster, and his name appears on every 
important committee which was chosen to forward that pur- 
pose. He was chosen the first treasurer of Clinton, and was 
again elected to the same office in 1855. 

Mr. Harris was a most ardent temperance man. It was 
he who made a hall for the Sons of Temperance in the build- 
ing on High Street now occupied by C. W. Field. When 
the famous Charles Jewett was about to give up his work in 
behalf of the cause for pecuniary reasons, Sidney Harris 
started a subscription paper which was circulated not only 
in Clinton, but in many other towns and, by this, he raised 
such a sum that Mr. Jewett's work was continued. These 
two examples are taken from many to illustrate the idea 
that he was the monied representative of temperance in this 
section. 

In religion, he was a Unitarian. In early life, he attended 
church at Lancaster, and he was prominent among those 
who furnished means for building the Unitarian meeting- 
house in Clinton. 

Next to the Bigelows, Sidney Harris is the most impor- 
tant figure in the industrial life of Clintonville. He won this 
position by his love of work, his integrity, his sound judg- 
ment in matters of business, his enterprise, his public spirit 
and his service in behalf of education, temperance and 
religion. 

After the death of their father, which occurred Novem- 



342 



THE HARRIS COMB SHOPS. 



ber 21, i86i, the sons continued the business under the title 
of Sidney Harris & Sons, a title which was never changed as 
long as the shops remained under their control. 

Edwin Algernon Harris was born May 31, 1837. George 
Sidney Harris, March 13, 1839. They were the only chil- 
dren who survived their father. They were both born at the 
Harris homestead and both attended the public schools. 
Edwin went for some time to Josiah Bride's famous school 
in Berlin and took a business course at a school in Worces- 
ter. The boys were employed about the shops from an early 
age, and on account of the ill health of their father were in 
active business before they had reached maturity. Decem- 
ber 18, 1858, Edwin A. Harris married Adeline K. Damon of 
Fitchburg. They lived in his father's house. 

While their father was yet living, in i860, large additions 
were made to the works under the direction of the two 
brothers. After this, they employed fifty hands. By the 
conditions of the father's will, the mother had control of the 
homestead and shops, but she leased the latter to her sons. 
In May, 1862, the firm undertook the manufacture of paper 
bags on a large scale, but soon abandoned it and confined 
itself entirely to horn goods. The staple product was the 
common varieties of combs, but, at a later date, fancy combs 
were made. For a time, some horn buckles and horn chains 
were manufactured. Goods were sold through commission 
merchants. 

George S. Harris bought of Absalom Lord the house 
more recently owned by Mrs. David Haskell. He was never 
very strong but was always inclined to work beyond his 
power. In 1865, he was one of the selectmen of Clinton. 
He took up his father's mantle in matters of temperance 
and was an active worker in the society of Good Templars. 
In his later life, he went to the Congregational Church. He 
died April 28, 1866, at the age of twenty-eight. 

On account of his brother's weakness, the larger portion 
of the responsibilities connected with the business had fallen 



EDWIN A. AND GEORGE S. HARRIS. 343 

upon Edwin A. Before the death of George S., extensive 
additions had been begun. These consisted of the brick 
mill and the boiler house on the west of the river and the 
brick press shop on the east. After these additions from 
fifty to seventy-five hands were employed and sometimes 
for short periods from ninety to one hundred. The annual 
product was worth from one hundred thousand dollars to 
one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars. In 1870, five 
thousand horns were used per day, and twelve thousand 
combs were made. These comb works were the largest in 
America. 

The brothers had been especially interested in the Agri- 
cultural Railroad, since known as the Boston, Clinton and 
Fitchburg, then as the Northern Division of the Old Colony, 
and still later absorbed by the New York, New Haven and 
Hartford. It was due to Edwin A. Harris more than any 
one else that this road ran through Clinton. He was a di- 
rector and large stock holder in the road. He was also 
a director of the First National Bank of Clinton. 

When Mrs. Sidney Harris died March 9, 1872, he came 
into possession of the homestead and shops. Edwin A. 
Harris was a man of remarkable financial ability. He was 
even keener, perhaps, than his father and devoted himself to 
business with all the energy of his nature. He realized that 
the building up of a great industry would be the best service 
he could do the world, and those who knew him best do not 
doubt that had he lived through his maturity, his mills would 
have continued a most important factor in the development 
of the town. He was a man with high ideals of public mor- 
ality, and gave liberall)' for the support of all reforms. He 
was one of the most prominent members of the Unitarian 
Society. At the age of thirty-eight, when his business was 
established and he might well expect many years of useful- 
ness and prosperity, he died May 28, 1875.* 

*A joint stock company, called the S. Harris Sons Manufacturing 
Company, was formed with a capital of sixty thousand dollars to continue 



344 CLINTON WIRE CLOTH COMPANY. 

Among the men employed at the comb shop of S. Harris 
& Sons, Joel Sawtell was among the best known. He was 
born in Boylston in 1809. From the age of sixteen to that 
of nineteen, he worked for Nathaniel Lowe of Clinton, and 
it is supposed that he learned the comb trade of him. He 
worked for Emory Harris for several years. In 1829, he 
went into the comb business for himself. This he continued 
until 1837. He and Mr. Glines seem to have had some sort 
of a business partnership with Sidney Harris before his sons 
came into the business. He was afterwards for the greater 
part of his life employed at the Harris Comb Shops. He 
died July 18, 1888. Theodore McNeal, who died March i, 
1887, at the age of fifty-four, also worked in these shops for 
twenty-five years or more. He came to Clinton in 1852. 

The Clinton Wire Cloth Company was incorporated June 
23, 1856. The directors were E. B. Bigelow, H. N. Bigelow 
and J. C. Hoadley. E. B. Bigelow was made president, H. 
N. Bigelow, treasurer, and A. E. Bigelow, clerk. Charles H. 
Waters soon became general manager, and he was made 
treasurer in January, 1858. He was followed in January, 
1865, by Charles A. Whiting. After A. E. Bigelow had 
served for one year, C. F. W. Parkhurst followed him as 
clerk. The original capital stock was only twenty thousand 
dollars. The land for the plant was bought of the Bigelow 
Carpet Company. The assessors list in 1857 shows that the 
real estate was valued at seven thousand dollars and the per- 
sonal at three thousand dollars. There was at this time, one 
mill thirty-six feet by one hundred and seventy-five. The 
machine shop, fifty feet by eighty, was built in 1862. No, 2 

the business. This company gave employment to about eighty hands, 
but, after six years of work without profit, they sold out to Mrs. Edwin A. 
Harris. She continued the business for a time under the corporate title 
in a smaller way, but finally sold out to the Lancaster Mills and the 
shops were closed and some of the buildings turned into tenement 
houses. 



SOME OF THE EMPLOYEES. 345 

mill was built in 1863 of the same size as No. i. The 
machine shop stood between the two mills and connected 
them. In 1865, the larger mill, No. 3, was erected. This 
was one hundred and four by two hundred and twenty-five 
feet. 

The first patents were granted in England for weaving 
wire cloth as early as 1770, but there was no successful manu- 
facture of wire cloth by power before it was made in Clinton 
in 1856. The wire cloth made here was manufactured in 
many different patterns and used for window screens, corn 
poppers, sieve bottoms, spark arrestors, coal and sand rid- 
dles, and a great variety of other things. Stillman Hough- 
ton* was the overseer in charge of the manufacturing until 
February, 1865. Alonzo E. Hardy was engineer for the first 
twenty years. Benjamin F. Rice was the chief machinist 
until February, 1865. He was born in District No. 10, Sep- 
tember 21, 1828. He was the son of Nathaniel Rice and the 
grandson of Joseph, Senior. He was a man of great mechani- 
cal ability and the machinery of the Clinton Wire Cloth 
Mills doubtless owes as much to him as that of the other 
mills does to J. B. Parker. Mr. Rice invented the first paper 
bag machine, but he sold his patent. He also made other 
important inventions. He moved to South Boston and there 
worked in trying to develop the caloric engine. George F. 
Wright followed Mr. Rice. After working here for many 
years, he became the senior member of the Wright & Colton 
Wire Cloth Company of Worcester. Herbert J. Brown, who* 
became superintendent in 1872, was employed to some ex- 
tent by the company before the period with which we are 
dealing ends. 

It was not until after 1865, that the Clinton Wire Cloth 
Company assumed its place among our great corporations. 
In January, 1859, only seven hands were employed, including 
those mentioned, and even in January, 1865, there were only 
twenty-one. 

*See page 255. t See War Record. 



346 CLINTON WIRE CLOTH COMPANY. 

Charles H. Waters was born in Millbury in 1828. He 
had the education of the district school with a few terms at 
Wilbraham Academy. He entered a factory at the age of 
fifteen and devoted himself with such zeal to his work that 
he soon became a skillful workman and at the same time 
gained a good understanding of the business. At the age 
of eighteen, he was the overseer in a cotton mill, and he soon 
had charge of the mill as a whole. In 1848, he was manu- 
facturing articles from flax at Little Falls, New York. At 
the age of twenty-three, he started mills for the manufacture 
of rope and twine at Jewett City, Ct. He married Mary 
Farnsworth of Groton in 1855. He came to Clinton when 
the Wire Cloth Mill was started, as agent. He did the same 
work for this industry that H. N. Bigelow had done for the 
manufacture of Brussels and Wilton carpeting, that is, he 
"naturalized" the inventions of E. B. Bigelow. He also 
added much directly to these inventions and obtained many 
patents therefor. We are told "the Clinton Wire Cloth Mills 
were created by Mr. Waters." He was the central force in the 
corporation until his death. After serving as manager 
twenty-two years, he was made president and held this office 
until his death. He superintended the construction of the 
works of the Avery Lactate Company at Littleton. He 
never lived in Clinton, although at one time he planned to 
build a residence where J. R. Foster's house now stands. 
His home was in Groton, where he was looked upon as a 
foremost citizen, devoted to the interests of the community. 
He died March 13, 1883. 

Although Artemas E. Bigelow was more prominently 
connected with several other local interests than he was 
with the Clinton Wire Cloth Company, yet it has seemed 
best to consider his story here, as he was the first clerk of 
the corporation^. He was born in Paxton, September 3, 1819, 
and like his brother, George N., our first High School 
master, was brought up on his father's farm. He was edu- 
cated in the district schools, at Bride's school in Berlin, and 






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Clinton Wire Cloth Mills, i 865-1 895. 



C. F. W. PARKHURST. 347 

at the academies in Southbridge and Worcester. He taught 
school in Paxton before he came to Clintonville. He had 
charge of our Second School for some three years. This 
was next in grade to the High School. When he resigned 
in 1852, the school report spoke in the highest terms of his 
efficiency. For a quarter of a century, he served our various 
corporations, being connected at one time or another with 
nearly all of them as clerk, paymaster or treasurer. From 
May, 1 86 1, to May, 1864, he was treasurer of the Clinton 
Savings Bank. He was town clerk from 1854 to i860. He 
was a member of the school committee from 1855 to i860. 
In all his duties, public and private, he manifested the ut- 
most nicety and precision. He was an earnest Congrega- 
tionalist. He is now living in Paxton. 

C. F. W. Parkhurst was born in Framingham, March 5, 
1808. He was the son of Ephraim and Betsy L. Parkhurst. 
He was one of a family of ten children. He had one 
brother who became a clergyman, and another who became 
a physician. He worked on his father's farm and attended 
the common schools and the Framingham Academy. Be- 
fore he came to Clinton, he had been a farmer and a 
teacher. He taught for twenty-two winters in Framingham, 
HoUiston and Ashland. He was also a writing teacher. He 
was superintendent of the Sunday School and leader of the 
village choir in Framingham. He married Mary Goodale of 
Marlboro, November 8, 1832. He had three sons and one 
daughter who are now living. One of these, Wellington E. 
Parkhurst, has been one of our foremost citizens. Another, 
Rev. Charles H. Parkhurst, is noted as a reformer, an author 
and a divine. A third, Howard E., is an author and one of 
the leading musicians of the country. Mr. C. F. W. Park- 
hurst came to Clinton at the end of 1853, to work as a book- 
keeper in the office of Parker & Palmer, afterwards J. B. 
Parker & Co. Five years later, he added the work of book- 
keeper for the Clinton Wire Cloth Company to that of the 
machine shop. He performed the work of both offices for 



348 J. B. PARKER MACHINE SHOP. 

some years, and then gave his time exclusively to the Clin- 
ton Wire Cloth Company for seven years more. He retired 
from business in April, 1S75. ^^ bought a house on Walnut 
Street of Robert S. Freeman. This house is still owned by 
his heirs. He was a devoted Congregationalist and was a 
deacon in our church for over fifteen years. He was the first 
town clerk in Ashland, also an assessor and a member of 
the school committee in the same town. He was a member 
of the Clinton school committee ten years, from 1864 to 
1873, and was chairman in i86g. He was also an assessor in 
Clinton and a member of the cemetery committee. He died 
February 9, 1878. 

One who knew him well wrote: "In the death of Dea- 
con Parkhurst this community loses a valuable and respected 
citizen, and the Congregational Church, an honored and effi- 
cient member. His manner was a constant protest against 
folly, whether in the family, in business, in society, in religion. 
* * * The methods and discipline of the teacher were evi- 
dent in all his later work. He went to and came from his 
office with the regularity of the clock. 'The tenor of his 
way' was notably 'even.' Rigid system was personified in 
him. Exceedingly frugal in his expenditures, he was in no 
way penurious, but from his savings gave liberally to public 
and benevolent enterprises. A correct creed was to his mind 
important, but a correct life was more so." 

Joseph B. Parker was born in Princeton in 1805. He at- 
tended the district school of his native town during early 
boyhood. From the age of fifteen to that of twenty-one, 
he served an apprenticeship to Joel Howe, a Princeton 
blacksmith. He then worked in the machine shop of Samuel 
Flagg of Oakdale. Within a year, he was made foreman. 
After holding this position for eight years, he entered into 
the same business for himself. In October, 1833, he married 
Mary A. Morgan. In July, 1835, ^^^ became a deacon of the 
Orthodox Church in West Boylston. 



"THE DEACON. 



349 



When E. B. Bigelow invented his first counterpane loom, 
he sought the cooperation of Mr. Parker in putting it into 
form for use. Mr. Parker also constructed the first coach- 
lace loom for Mr. Bigelow, In 1840, Mr. Parker opened a 
machine shop in Providence, but he was soon called to Clin- 
tonville to take charge of the new machine shop of the Clin- 
ton Company. Here, he built the counterpane, gingham, 
and Brussels carpeting looms for the new mills. As the plan 
of all these looms was greatly modified in the building, it is 
probable that their efficiency was increased by his practical 
suggestions. He was a most thorough workman, and the 
machines which he built were always the standard machines 
of their kind in the market. Dr. D. B. Ingalls, who entered 
Mr. Parker's employ in 1847, says: 

"Dea. Parker at this time was in the prime of life — forty- 
two years of age. He impressed me as a frank, open-hearted, 
self-possessed, honest man. There was no sham about him. 
He had none of that suavity of manners, that oils the way 
to good fellowship in the life of the popular man. He had 
a way of expressing himself with a look that manifested his 
contempt for insincerity in others. No one thought of him 
as selfish in his intercourse with his fellowmen. While true 
to his employers, he was helpful to those in his employ, and 
in general was public-spirited in the best sense of the word. 
In a business way, I never met a person who made a deeper 
impression upon my early life, as to what the true citizen 
should be, than did Deacon Joseph B. Parker." 

"The place in which I involuntarily find myself, when, in 
imagination, the attempt is made to look over Clintonville, 
as it was in 1847, is in that building in the worsted mill yard, 
at your left as you pass through the gate. At that time, it 
was the machine shop, and a lively place in more senses 
than one. A large number were employed there, most of 
them young men, representing most of the northern states. 
To keep this little army in hand and profitably at work was 
no light undertaking. 'The Deacon,' as we called him, had 



350 J. B. PARKER MACHINE COMPANY. 

his work well systematized. The frames, or skeletons of the 
machines, together with the heavy shafts, were made and put 
together in the lower room under the direction of Horace 
Whitney, one of the four men appointed to look after the 
details of the work. The lighter work was done up stairs; 
Jonas Hunt and Albert H. Smith at that time had charge of 
the men at work on the different parts of the last lot of 
Coachlace looms that they built here. And Edward W. 
Goodale had charge of those who were at work on the 
thousand and one things required to complete the various 
machines made. At this time, these four men, active, wide- 
awake, in the prime of life, were expected to keep things 
moving. It is surprising when we remember what they had 
to contend with, that they all lived to pass the allotted age 
of man. All four have died within a few years." 

In 1849, i'^ company with Levi Greene, Mr. Parker bought 
out the planing mill machinery of Belyea & Howe and 
built a mill near the site of the present foundry, which the 
assessors valued in 1850 at seventeen hundred and fifty dol- 
lars. In March, 185 1, he sold out his share of this business 
and went to England to set up some Brussels carpet looms 
for E. B. Bigelow. Here, he remained for six months or 
more. On his return to Clinton, he entered into partnership 
with G. M. Palmer for the manufacture of machinery. The 
machine shop, which is still standing, was completed by them 
in the autumn of 1852. They continued business together 
for five years, building most of the new machinery for the 
mills here, as well as doing a large general business. At 
this time, according to the assessors, this shop, with the 
land, was valued at twenty-five hundred dollars, the machin- 
ery and stock at forty-seven hundred. October 31, 1857, 
Mr. Palmer withdrew from the firm and two years later A. 
C. Dakin became a partner with Mr. Parker. Considerable 
additions were made to the shop. From April i, 1864, to 
April I, 1865, Samuel Fosdick of Groton had an interest in 
the business. March 10, 1875, ^ ^^'^ company was incorpor- 



ARCHELAUS C. DAKIN. 35I 

ated as the J. B. Parker Machine Company. From fifty to 
one hundred men were employed. 

Mr. Parker was for many years the leading coal dealer of 
Clinton. He bought the brick house on Main Street a few 
rods north of its corner with Water. This remained his 
homestead throughout his life. He died September i, 1874. 

He was one of the committee chosen by District No. 10 
to oversee all matters connected with the division of the 
town. He was one of the founders of the Bigelow Me- 
chanics' Institute. He was connected with every movement 
to forward the cause of temperance and that of anti-slavery. 
He was president of the Fremont Club. He was one of the 
founders of the Orthodox Society of Clinton and continued 
one of the pillars of this societ}- throughout his life. In his 
character, the virtue's of the Puritans and their progressive 
spirit vvere again united. 

Archelaus C. Dakin was born in Sudbury, June 24, 1823. 
His father was a farmer, a deacon in the Congregationalist 
Church, and a selectman of the town. He attended the dis- 
trict school. He worked on the farm until he was twenty- 
three, and then went into a machine shop. He came to 
Clintonville in January, 1848, to work in the machine shop 
of the Clinton Compan)'. He remained here five years; he 
was then foreman for two }ears at J. B. Parker's, and then 
for five years foreman at the Carpet Mill machine shop. In 
1859, he became the partner of J. B. Parker. After Mr. Par- 
ker was unable to work, he became the manager of the shop, 
a position he still holds. He married Julia M. Chickering 
in 1855. He built his present residence on Prospect Street 
in 1866. He has been prominently connected with the Con- 
gregationalist Society. He has served the town as select- 
man, and has been a director of the First National Bank and 
a vice-president of the Savings Bank. 

In 1847, I^- N. Bigelow, acting for a stock company, 
completed a building at the foot of Burditt Hill, where the 



352 



PLANING MILL. 



Bigelow Carpet Mill now stands. This building was designed 
for industries auxiliary to the mills. The main part toward 
the east was one hundred feet in length and forty-two in 
width, with a small boiler-house attached on the south. 

The lower story of this section was occupied by Samuel 
Belyea and Jonas E. Howe as a planing mill. This planing 
mill ran by steam power and employed about ten hands in 
making boxes for the mills and other such work in their 
line as might be demanded by the corporation or private 
individuals. 

The story above Belyea & Howe was occupied by James 
Patterson, who employed one man and two girls in making 
belts and loom harnesses and covering rolls. The western 
part of the building, Oilman M. Palmer used as an iron foun- 
dry, employing about twelve men. When this location was 
needed for the manufacture of carpets in 1849, Belyea & 
Howe sold out their machinery to Levi Gre'ene and J. B. Par- 
ker, and the other occupants of the building moved their 
business to other parts of the village. Mark Lund, who had 
a blacksmith shop a little to the west, was also obliged to 
move. 

Gilman M. Palmer was a native of Union, Maine. He 
was born December 4, 1812. After gaining such limited 
education as could be obtained from a few brief years at the 
district school, he began to learn his trade at the age of four- 
teen. His first business was in Franklin, N. H. Then he 
went to Dover in the same state and did business there. 
Thence, he went to the West, but he found that locality less 
to his liking than the East, and therefore returned. He came 
to Clintonville, October 2, 1847. 

As we have already noted, he began business in the west- 
ern part of the building on the present site of the Bigelow 
Carpet Mills, employing about twelve men. He was almost 
wholly engaged in work connected with the great corpora- 
tions of the village. In October, 1849, h^ completed his 
foundr}- on Parker Street. In 1857, this foundry and lot 



OILMAN M. PALMER. 



353 



were assessed at two thousand two hundred and fifty dollars 
and the stock at one thousand dollars. In 1852, he built the 
machine shop in company with J. B. Parker. He continued 
in business with him for five years, as before stated. In the 
fall of 1854, he became superintendent of a foundry in Law- 
rence, but he gave up the position after a short time. Dur- 
ing all these years, the Clinton Foundry was the center of 
his business activities. He continued business until October, 
1881, when he sold out to the Clinton Foundry Company, 
which was composed of the Parker Machine Company and 
C. C. Stone. This partnership was dissolved in 1894. The 
business is now carried on by C. C. Stone, under the same 
firm name. Mr. Palmer died May 27, 1885. 

Mr. Palmer served as one of the selectmen of Clinton for 
six years, 1851-55, 1856-57, 1868-69. During the last five of 
these years, he was chairman. He was always especially 
devoted to the interests of the fire department and served 
for some years as foreman of the Cataract Engine Company. 
Mr. Palmer was in 1867 a candidate for the state legislature 
on the Prohibitory-Republican ticket. Although he received 
a majority of the votes in his own town, he failed of election 
in the district. In 1869, he was again a candidate but lost his 
election by a narrow margin. He contested the seat with Jonas 
E. Howe the sitting member in the famous case of Palmer vs. 
Howe which created such an intense excitement in Clinton. 
The Committee of Investigation decided in his favor six to 
one, but the House supported the minority report. Mr. 
Palmer was most prominently connected with the organiza- 
tion of the Clinton Light Guard in 1853, and became the 
first captain of the company. In 1855, he was made lieuten- 
ant-colonel of the Ninth Regiment. The various pageants 
which took place in the town in 1853 and 1854 owe their 
origin and their success in a large measure to him. He was 
vice-president of the Clinton Savings Bank from the time it 
was organized until his death. He was also a director in the 
First National Bank for many )'ears. He was a Free Mason 



354 



FULLER'S MILL. 



and held the office of marshal. He was one of the original 
members of the Unitarian Society and belonged to the pru- 
dential committee of the parish from 1852 until the time of 
his death. He was the first of our citizens to make large be- 
quests to public and local interests. Among these bequests 
may be mentioned a building lot and four thousand five hun- 
dred dollars for a parsonage to the First Unitarian Society 
of Clinton ; one thousand dollars to the Unitarian Society 
for the benefit of the Sunday School Librar}-; four thousand 
dollars to the First National Bank, in return for assistance 
rendered when in pecuniary difficulties; two thousand dollars 
each, to Trinity Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons and to 
E. D. Baker Post 64, Grand Army of the Republic ; one 
thousand dollars to the Bigelow Free Public Library. 

In 1839, Ephraim Fuller bought of George Howard the 
water privilege, shops and lands at the old Allen mill site 
which is now occupied by Rodger's Mills, off Allen Street. 
Mr. Fuller had before carried on business at the water privi- 
lege more recently used by Carter's Mills, but had been burnt 
out there. The original work of Mr. Fuller had been the 
dressing and fulling of cloths prepared by farmers' wives. 
He kept up his old business at his new location, but soon 
added to it the spinning of knitting yarn and the weaving 
of satinet cloths. 

Andrew L. P\iller, his son, born June 6, 1824, was associ- 
ated with his father in business at an early age. He had 
charge of the mill. At the age of twenty-one, he was his 
father's partner and, before Clinton was incorporated, he had 
full control of the mill. In 1850, the mill was assessed at 
five thousand dollars, machinery and stock at one thousand 
five hundred dollars. August 23, 185 1, the Courant says that 
he employed thirty hands, running much of the time night 
and day. He made woolen yarn for the Clinton Company 
and fancy cassimeres, using six hundred pounds of wool per 
day, making from sixty thousand to seventy thousand yards 



ANDREW L. FULLER. 



355 



of cloth annually. Later, he made fancy quilted skirts. In 
1857, the stock, mill and water power were assessed at four 
thousand dollars, machinery and stock at two thousand seven 
hundred and fifty dollars. 

When hoop skirts became fashionable, Mr. Fuller turned 
his attention to the covering of the steel wires. In 1865, an 
addition to the mill was completed forty-five feet by eighty- 
two and three stories high. This was larger than the origi- 
nal mill. Here, he had two hundred and fifty braiding 
machines for skirt wire. Seventy-five thousand yards of 
steel were covered daily. Eighteen tape looms wove fifteen 
thousand yards each day. One hundred hands were em- 
ployed. The same year, he erected an ofifice and boarding- 
house. He bought the shops and the water privilege of 
Haskell McCollum on Main Street. It seemed as if the in- 
dustry was destined to develop to large proportions, but Mr. 
Fuller's health broke down. A trip to Europe in the sum- 
mer of 1866 and to Florida in the winter did not bring recov- 
ery. He died September 10, 1867. 

Mr. Fuller's home was for years the center of hospitality 
for all the neighborhood. He was a large-hearted, jovial 
man. No one was more popular than he among our towns- 
people and any ofifice that he was willing to hold was eagerly 
given to him. But, although he consented to serve on the 
board of fire engineers and for one term in the legislature in 
1854, yet, in general, he preferred private life. He was a cap- 
tain of the Light Guard and lieutenant in Company C, Fif- 
teenth Massachusetts Volunteers, serving for four months. 
He resigned his commission on account of ill health. He 
was an Odd Fellow and Free Mason. He was a liberal sup- 
porter of the Unitarian Society. 

Other men in Clinton became interested in the manufac- 
ture of hoop skirts. William E. Frost, who had been a 
machinist at the Counterpane Mill, made some important 
improvements in the manufacture of these skirts, but dis- 
posed of his rights in them to Worcester parties. A com- 



356 LANCASTER QUILT COMPANY. 

pany consisting, first or last, of H. S. Robinson, W. G. Wil- 
der, D. A. White and W. H. Brockway, hired power of A. 
L. Fuller and made skirts in his mill in 1858. For a year or 
so, they worked night and day, employing some ten opera- 
tives. In 1859, the business passed into the hands of W. H. 
Brockway. A. L. Fuller furnished the tape, which was, ap- 
parently, the most profitable part of the manufacture. About 
the end of the war, the Bay State Skirt Company was organ- 
ized. Albion W. Gibbs was at the head of this business. 
Chester Guild and H. C. Kendrick were also interested in it. 
The manufacturing was done in the basement of the Library 
Building. From ten to twenty-five girls were employed in 
the most busy times. The business was kept up for about 
three years. 

The Lancaster Quilt Mill Company* was incorporated 
February 11, 1848, "for the purpose of manufacturing petti- 
coat robes, toilet covers, and the various descriptions of 
counterpanes, quilts and bed covers and all work connected 
with this branch of business, and also any other description 
of cotton goods." The capital was not to exceed two hun- 
dred thousand dollars. John Lamson, William P. Barnard 
and George Seaver were the original incorporators. In 1850, 
the company was assessed for about one hundred and ten 
thousand dollars. At this time, one hundred operatives 
were employed and seventy thousand counterpanes ten quar- 
ters by thirteen quarters were made annually on the thirty- 
six looms. By the patents of E. B. Bigelow, the cost of 
making these quilts had been reduced from nine dollars to 
three. The business was not remarkably successful and the 
hard times of 1857 forced the closing of the mills. In May, 
1859, the mills were bought by James Reed & Co. There 
were twenty acres of land, a brick factory, brick picker 
house, repair shop and boiler house, a wooden bleachery 



*See pages 211-212, 



DEACON JAMES PATTERSON. 35; 

and some ten outl}'ing buildings. It was about the begin- 
ning of i860 before the works started up. Later, Jordan, 
Marsh & Co. owned the property; then Jordan, Bardwell & Co. 
All these parties manufactured under the name of the Lan- 
caster Quilt Company. In April, 1873, William E. Frost 
and S. T. Howard bought the mill for twelve thousand dol- 
lars. June 19, 1873, the outlying estate was sold in many 
lots, for forty-three thousand dollars. 

The clerks who served in the mill were Albert S. Carle- 
ton, Edward R. Fiske, Augustus J. Sawyer, Wellington E. 
Parkhurst, Joshua Thissell and Henry N. Otterson. From 
1848 to 1865, Charles W. Worcester was agent. He was 
born in Princeton, August 23, 1808. He was a most public- 
spirited citizen. He served as an assessor. He was a mem- 
ber of the board of selectmen seven years; and during five of 
these he was chairman. In 1868, he was sent to the General 
Court. He lived at first on the corner of Water and Main 
Streets. He occupied at a later time the house on Walnut 
Street next to the Town Hall. He built the Bailey house 
on Chestnut Street. He was a prominent Odd Fellow. He 
died November 23, 1872, at the age of sixty-four. 

When Dea. James Patterson was forced to move from the 
shop on the present site of the Bigelow Carpet Mill, he 
started a shop near his private residence on Walnut Street 
where W. S. Doggett now lives. The shop was afterwards 
changed to a tenement house, and now stands on Water 
Street just west of the Dame estate. Deacon Patterson was 
a native of Lunenburg, born in 1782. He was the fifth in 
descent from a James Patterson who was captured by Crom- 
well at Dunbar and transported to America. He had been 
in Nashua and Dunbarton, N. H., before coming to Clinton- 
ville. He was a most influential member of the Congrega- 
tional Church. He was austere in character and conserva- 
tive in theology. A neighbor speaks of his white hair and 
"saintl)' face." He continued to live in Clinton until his 



358 MINOR INDUSTRIES. 

death in 1865. He had four sons and two daughters, all of 
whom had reached maturity before he came to Clintonville. 
In 1853, George H. Foster came to Clinton and worked 
for Dea. Patterson. In July, 1853, he bought out his employer 
and started a loom harness and belt shop near the depot. 
In 1857, the shop and lot were assessed at fourteen hundred 
dollars and the stock at one thousand dollars. Mr. Foster 
was for many years a leading member of the Methodist 
Society. He carried on the business until 1865, when William 
H, Gibbs obtained an interest. The loom harness business 
came wholly into the hands of Mr. Gibbs January i, 1868. 
The present Gibbs Loom Harness and Reed Company was 
incorporated April i, 1874. 

Just about the time that a division of the town took place, 
Bagley and Carleton began to manufacture carpet bags from 
Brussels carpeting. Bagley was a Boston merchant and 
never lived in Clinton. C. Alden Pratt had direct charge of 
the manufactory. Thirty thousand dollars worth of carpeting 
was used in a year. Their- brick factory on Church Street 
is now standing in a greatly altered form as the dwelling- 
house of Dr. J. F. Worcester. Although the business did 
not succeed in the end, great expectations were entertained 
of it at this time. May 8, 1852, Carleton is spoken of as 
carrying on business alone. January 14, 1854, J. W. Caldwell 
was in management of the concern. His advertisement dis- 
appears from the Courant September 15, 1855. Albert S. 
Carleton was the son of Moses Carleton, and was born in 
181 5. He was the first paymaster of the Quilt Mill. He 
was paymaster at the Carpet Mill from 1852 to 1855, and 
superintendent of the Coachlace Mill from 1855 to 1857. 
He was our first town clerk and served for three years. He 
was a member of the school committee for three years. 
He was an earnest Whig, and president of the famous Scott 
Club in 1852, which voted "to hold weekly meetings until 
Scott shall be elected." He went to New York state in 1857. 



JAMES R. AND HENRY S. ROBINSON. 359 

He died at Brownsville, N. Y., November 5, 1885, having 
been in charge of mills there more than a quarter of a cen- 
tury. 

James R. and Henry S. Robinson, natives of Laconia, N. 
H., were for some years consulting steam engineers in Clin- 
ton, and had an office in the Library Building, upper room. 
James R. was the author of a work on boiler explosions. In 
1874, he was appointed by the United States Government on 
a committee with President Barnard of Columbia College 
and other leading authorities to investigate the cause of 
boiler explosions. He resided in the later )'ears of his life 
at Cambridge. He died February 24, 1891, at the age of 
sixty-eight. 

Amos Stearns was a brush manufacturer on Boylston 
Street in December, 185 1. January 31, 1857, he was in the 
same business at Howell's old place. James R. Stewart had 
a dye-house on Main Street. He lived on the Rigby Road. 
He was a man of ability, and among the foremost in the 
organization of the Bigelow Mechanics' Institute. He went 
to Australia. Richard Emmett took his place in 1852. Mark 
Lund, after he moved from the building on the present site 
of the Bigelow Mills, had a blacksmith shop on School 
Street, opposite the stables. He stayed in this village ten 
years and then went to Billerica. An attempt was made, in 
the autumn of 1855, to establish a local steam power com- 
pany, but without success. Ephraim Avery, who had sold 
boots and shoes at Brimhall's Block in 1858, began the man- 
ufacture of boots and shoes in April, 1859, at Mark Lund's 
old shop on School Street. He expected to make five hun- 
dred pairs per day. H. C. Kendrick was admitted into the 
firm in i860. Avery & Kendrick made extensive additions 
to their shoe shop in November, 1862. In 1864, Mr. Ken- 
drick withdrew from the partnership, and Mr. Avery con- 
tinued the business. In May, 1862, Henry T. Goodale, who 
had sold boots and shoes in the store on Union Street, in 
Burdett's Block, since 1852, was making some ladies' boots 



360 EARLY BUILDERS. 

and shoes. He sold out his store to G. W. Laythe in 1864. 
He then went to Fitchburg and manufactured boots and 
shoes there extensively, in company with E. M. Dickinson. 
He belonged to the "original" Clinton Brass Band. Later, 
Goodale & Barrett manufactured here. 

In a community which was developing as rapidly as Clin- 
tonville did in the later forties, the services of many masons, 
carpenters and others connected with the building industries 
were required. In the earlier portion of the present century, 
as we have already seen, Jacob Stone had almost a monopoly 
as a contractor in this region. His sons, Joseph, James and 
Oliver, and his sons-in-law, Levi Greene and Nathaniel Rice, 
succeeded in a large measure to their father's business, and 
did a large portion of the building in the later thirties and 
early forties. We have noted that William T. Merrifield 
took the great contracts on the mills in the period of most 
rapid development, about 1845. ^^ have now to take a 
general survey of building and subsidiary industries for the 
twenty years that followed. 

Ezra Sawyer built the brick house on Church Street, 
where Bagley and Carleton began business as a shop and as 
a stand for his business as a master mason and contractor. 
Ezra Sawyer, with his brothers, Luke and Thomas, came of 
a Sterling branch of the Sawyer family, and were only dis- 
tantly related to Peter Sawyer. He was born in Shirley in 
1794. He married Eliza Houghton of Lancaster. In the 
forties, he bought of H. N. Bigelow the house now known 
as the Tyler house, which Mr. Bigelow had built as a dwell- 
ing place before 1845. ^^ ^^^o owned the vacant lot on the 
northeast corner of Church and High Streets. He sold his 
house to Gilbert Greene after some years. Thomas Sawyer 
built in 1845 ^ cottage house on High Street, a few rods 
south of Kendall's Block. This house is now owned by G. 
W. Morse, and is occupied as a laundry. 

We have already noted the work of Ezra Sawyer in con- 



EZRA SAWYER. 361 

nection with the building of the mills. He was also one of 
the most prominent citizens of the community. He was 
chairman of the prudential committee of District No. 10 for 
some years. He was an assessor of Lancaster in 1844, and 
a selectman in 1846. He served in the General Court as 
representative from Lancaster two years, in 1847-8, being 
the only man ever chosen from this section to represent the 
old town. He took an active part in all the events leading 
to the incorporation of Clinton, and he was chairman of the 
board of selectmen in the new town for the first two years. 
He spent six years with his two sons in Easthampton. He 
returned to Clinton in 1867. He was for a time an assistant 
to J. T. Dame at the post-ofifice. He died April 15, 1872. 
His son, Edmund H. Sawyer, was a prominent manufacturer 
at Easthampton, and another son, Ezra, held an important 
position in the mills there. 

G. E. Fairbanks and Charles Frazer were in business here 
as masons before the war. Greene's first brick block was 
built by them in 1857. 

The first dam built on Goodrich Brook where Fuller's 
Planing Mill now stands was made by Ephraim Fuller and 
W. F. Conant in the winter of 1846. A shop was built here 
which was occupied by Luther Ga)'lord who made hoes, hay 
and manure forks and other agricultural implements. He 
had before this manufactured by hand in South Lancaster. 
In 1850, the assessors valued his machinery, etc., worth only 
five hundred dollars. Mr. Gaylord hired from six to ten 
men and made more than one thousand dozen forks in 185 1. 
He continued business until the summer of 1854. He then 
returned to Naugatuck, Ct. He built the house now occu- 
pied by E. S. Fuller. He was a prominent Universalist. 
The upper part of the building was leased to W. F. Conant 
who made breast water-wheels and carried on a large busi- 
ness, and to Isaac Taylor, a maker of sashes and blinds. 

February 5, 1853, Ephraim Fuller took the door, sash and 
blind business formerly carried on by Isaac Taylor. Charles 



362 EARLY BUILDERS. 

Sawyer of Lancaster, a comb maker, carried on business in 
tiie lower part of the mill. April 4, 1857, C. C. Stone bought 
all the mill and made sashes and blinds here. In 1857, this 
shop was valued at nine hundred dollars, and the machinery 
at one hundred dollars. Mr. Stone sold in 1859 to E. S. and 
S. T. Fuller, who dissolved partnership August 21, 1862. S. 
T. Fuller erected a lumber house near the depot in Novem- 
ber, 1862. Oliver and C. C. Stone had before erected a 
steam saw and planing mill near the depot. This firm sold 
to Ephraim Fuller and Nathaniel Rice. February 17, 1857, 
the mill was burned. The loss was three thousand five hun- 
dred dollars. 

Oliver Stone, born January 16, 1812, was one of the lead- 
ing contractors of the community for many years. He was 
noted as a fine workman. He built the house for the super- 
intendent of Lancaster Mills on Chestnut Street, the Clinton 
House, the houses where Charles Bowman, A. A. Burdett, 
Dr. P. P. Comey and W. J. Coulter now live, as well as many 
others of the best houses of Clinton and Lancaster. He 
lived for a few years in the Connecticut Valley, but returned 
to Clinton and renewed his business here. He was familiarly 
known as Captain Oliver Stone, as he had once commanded 
the Lancaster artillery company. He died June 10, 1878. 
Louis L. Stone is his son. 

We have already had occasion to mention Christopher C. 
Stone several times, and we shall see his name constantly 
recurring as we go on. It seems hardly possible that one 
who is still in the fullness of his energies should have held 
so prominent a position forty years ago. He is the son of 
James and Eliza (Burdett) Stone. He was born November 
27, 1829, He attended school in District No. 10. He 
learned the carpenter trade and worked on many of the 
earlier buildings constructed by Oliver Stone, his uncle. We 
have seen how he afterwards became his uncle's partner and 
carried on business for himself in the mill now known as 



SAMUEL BELYEA. ' 363 

Fuller's Mill. After this business was given up in 1859, he 
entered Palmer's Foundry, where he has remained to the 
present time, and of which he now has control. We shall 
see him as captain of the Light Guard and major of the 
Ninth Regiment. Whoever writes the later histor}- of Clin- 
ton will describe his great service to the community as a 
manufacturer, as a judge in the district court, as a bank 
director, as a leader in the Unitarian Society, in the develop- 
ment of the Hospital, the Prescott Club, the Board of Trade, 
the Historical Society and numerous other organizations for 
the benefit of the community, and above all will show him 
as a servant of the town unexcelled in public spirit displayed 
and honors conferred. 

Samuel Belyea was a native of the province of New 
Brunswick. He came to Clintonville from East Brookfield 
in May, 1844, to superintend work for William T. Merrifield 
on his contract for building Lancaster Mills. In addition to 
his oversight of the woodwork in the construction of these 
mills, he built the old chapel on Main Street and Mr. Bige- 
low's private residence on Chestnut Street. He entered into 
partnership with Jonas E. Howe in 1847 i" establishing a 
planing mill where the Bigelow Carpet Mill now stands. 
This business was sold out in 1849. From this time on, Mr. 
Belyea was a contractor and builder, and he constructed 
many of the houses of Clinton and neighboring towns. The 
residence of Dr. G. W. Burdett on Church Street was built 
by him and he lived there until 1867. He afterwards built 
and lived in the Orin Laythe house, and that at the south- 
west corner of Walnut and Prospect Streets he made his 
final homestead. He was a member of the first board of 
selectmen and was elected again in 1856. In 1859, he was 
chief engineer of the fire department. He died February 22, 
1872, at the age of seventy-one. 

Jonas E. Howe, a native of Rutland, Mass., was born 
October 23, 1814. He came to Clintonville in 1846. He had 
previously been a machinist in P>ast Brookfield. He became 



364 EARLY BUILDERS. 

the partner of Mr. Belyea in the planing mill. After that 
business was sold out in 1849, h^ became a contractor and 
builder, Mr. Howe, either in company with Mr. Belyea or 
by himself, built the A. P. Burdett store, the Clinton House 
Hall building, Franklin Forbes' house and the Bigelow 
Library Association building. In company with E. E. Har- 
low, Mr. Howe built the High School building on Walnut 
Street and some of the Industrial School buildings in Lan- 
caster. He retired from business about 1870. He was se- 
lectman in 1853-4-8-9, 1869, 1877-9, 1883-6, and a road 
commisioner 1873-8. He was a member of the state legis- 
lature in i860, although the Democratic party, to which he 
belonged, cast very few votes on the general ticket compared 
to the Republicans. He was also elected to the same of^ce 
in 1870, 1872 and 1887. As Mr. Howe's greatest services to 
the town belong to a later era, in connection with the intro- 
duction of water, his story cannot be completed here, but 
must be reserved until the history of the later development 
of the town is written. 

Edward E. Harlow worked with Jonas E. Howe in the 
forties and became his partner and an independent con- 
tractor in the fifties. Although he died in his prime, before 
the Civil War began, yet he has left behind him many monu- 
ments of his labors. 

Levi Greene was born in Berlin, October 12, 1801. He 
was an apprentice of Jacob Stone and married his daughter, 
Achsah, November 5, 1829. He became a builder and lum- 
ber dealer. After the death of his first wife, he married 
Lucy Harris, September 19, 1844. In 1846-47, he was an 
assessor in Lancaster and in 1848 one of the selectmen. He 
was assessor in Clinton for five years. He lived on the east 
side of High Street in a house which stood on the ground 
next north of the present residence of Dr. C. L. French, 
in 1850. He had lived before in the house built by John 
Prescott, 4th. He afterwards built and lived in the brick house 
on the north side of Union Street between School and Nelson. 



GEORGE W. DINSMORE. 365 

March 29, 1851, Levi Greene bought the interest of J. B. 
Parker, his partner in the planing mill near the site of the 
present foundry. Most of his work as a builder was done in 
the employ of the Bigelow Carpet Mills. Mr. Greene was a 
member of the Trinity Lodge and Clinton Royal Arch Chap- 
ter of Free Masons, and was elected to the highest offices. 
He was a supporter of Congregational worship. Among 
those who worked for Levi Greene was Charles W. Ware, 
who came to Clinton in 1852. He worked for the Bigelow 
Carpet Mills and became an independent contractor after 
the Civil War. 

George W. Dinsmore, a brother-in-law of J. B. Parker, 
was an overseer in the Parker & Greene planing mill from 
the beginning. He was born in West Boylston in 1807, but 
passed his youth in Sterling. He was a captain in the 
militia company of that place. He married September 23, 
1829. In company witb Amos Childs he manufactured cot- 
ton goods. He came to Clintonville in 1848. He went to 
Plover, Wisconsin, in the fifties. He returned in 1865, and 
worked for many years in the wood shops of the Parker 
Machine Company. Later, he was engaged with his sons in 
the coal business. He was a member of the Congregation- 
alist Church, and sang in the choir. He died September 3, 
1888. He had three sons and two daughters. Two of the 
sons, Charles M. and George B., are among our best known 
business men. 

After Mr. Dinsmore went to the West, John E. Marshall 
hired the mill for two years. Wilson Morse came to Clinton 
to work for him in 1857. In this year or the next, Mr. Mar- 
shall built for Mr. Morse the house he has since occupied on 
High Street. In 1859, Mr. Morse went into the meat busi- 
ness with John A. Waters, where Fairbank's market now is. 
The partnership continued for a year and a half. Mr. Morse 
built a good many houses for the operatives of our mills on 
mortgages. He was born in Swanzey, N. H., June 10, 1818. 
He married Eliza J. Stuart. They bejonged to the Baptist 
Society. 



366 EARLY BUILDERS. 

Solomon Greene, millwright, a brother of Levi, had a 
shop in the basement of the Counterpane Mill, where he 
conducted his business. 

David Wallace was also one of our leading contractors 
in the period of development. He built the Baptist Church 
and the tower of the Congregationalist Church. He built 
the old "Methodist Parsonage" for his own residence and 
lived there for some years before he sold it to the Methodist 
Society, He left Clinton before the war. He has since 
lived in Fitchburg and has done interior finishing. He was 
selectman in 1857-8. 

Caleb, George F., and Sidney T. Howard were all sons of 
Sidney Howard, who settled on a farm on the South Meadow 
Road in Lancaster about 181 5, and they were nephews of 
the George Howard who bought the Allen place. They had 
the education of the district schools of Lancaster and all 
learned the carpenter's trade. They built many houses in 
Clintonville and Clinton during the period of greatest de- 
velopment. George F. and Sidney T. Howard bought out 
Butterfield's stables in 1858. After two years Sidney T. 
sold out to George F. and went to Worcester. George 
F. remained in the livery business until his death. May 6, 
1873, at the age of fifty-one. The business has been con- 
tinued to present day by his sons. George F. Howard 
was a selectman in 1872, and an assessor for several years. 
He was a member of the Unitarian Society. Sidney T. 
Howard returned to Clinton in 1871, and in company with 
William E. Frost manufactured yarn at the Counterpane 
Mill under the name of the Clinton Yarn Company. He 
died October 2, 1887, at the age of sixty. 

The name of William Sawyer should also be noticed 
among our early carpenters and contractors. Elisha Brim- 
hall was a carpenter. The construction of his own block 
was his largest job. Haskell & Cowdrey of Leominster also 
took contracts here in the forties, and Aratus Kelly took 
contracts, some of which he sub-let. 



THE RICES. 367 

Nathaniel, Joseph and Abel Rice, all sons of Joseph Rice, 
Senior, were all more or less connected with the industrial 
life of Clintonville and Clinton. Nathaniel was a carpenter 
and a contractor, and built a considerable number of houses 
in Clinton and Lancaster. Two of his sons, Benjamin F. 
and Edwin N., have been prominent in local history. Joseph 
and Abel were both workers in machinery for the manufac- 
ture of combs. In later life, Abel became the most famous 
mover of buildings in all the country round. He was select- 
man in 1853-56. 

Contracts for the making of cellars and for stone work- 
were taken by Charles H. Chace, whose story we notice else- 
where, and Edmund Harris. Mr. Harris was one of our 
selectmen in 1850-51. Lawrence and Martin .Murphy also 
did stone work. 

Among the painters the Gibsons employed the most men 
and took thejlargest contracts. Alfred Knight and Edwin 
Bynner were also painters in their day. Otis H. Kendall, who 
had a room over Deacon Stearns' harness-shop, has remained 
longest in service. He was one of the original members of 
the Baptist Church. 

Most of the lumber used in building during the sixties 
came from the mill of Eben S. Fuller. He was the son of 
John Fuller, whose homestead was in the Deer's-Horns dis- 
trict. This John Fuller had a mill on Goodrich Brook, where 
he made combs, and polished forks for Gaylord. The re- 
mains of the dam are still visible about half way between 
Four Ponds and Fuller's saw-mill. E. S. Fuller was born 
in 1833. He married the daughter of Ephraim Fuller. He 
had worked for C. C. Stone before he bought the mill of him 
in 1859. In 1862, he bought the house where he has since 
lived, and moved to Clinton. He has been among the fore- 
most of our citizens in the development of the real estate 
interests of the town. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

CERTAIN PUBLIC ENTERPRISES. 

The condition of the new community soon made it desir- 
able to have a savings bank, for thrifty young men and 
women were saving money without any opportunity for the 
investment of small sums, and many were desiring to secure 
homesteads who did not know where to get the needed 
pecuniary assistance. On the 15th of May, 185 1, the Clin- 
ton Savings Bank was incorporated.* The by-laws fixed as 
the date of the annual meeting the fourth Wednesday in 
-September, and declared that the officers should consist of 
a president, two vice-presidents, twenty-four trustees, and a 

* COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. 

/;/ the Year One TJioitsand Eight Hundred and Fifty-one. 

An Act to Incorporate 

The Clinton Savings Bank. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatiius, in General 
Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows : 

Section i. Franklin Forbes, A. S. Carleton, Charles G. Stevens, their 
associates and successors, are hereby made a corporation, by the name 
of the Clinton Savings Bank, to be located in Clinton, with all the 
powers and privileges, and subject to all the duties, liabilities and re- 
strictions set forth in the thirty-sixth and forty-fourth chapters of the 
Revised Statutes, and in all other laws of this Commonwealth relating 
to Savings Banks and institutions for savings. 

Section 2. The said Institution is authorized to hold real estate not 
exceeding in amount ten thousand dollars, 

Approved, May 15, 185 1, 



CLINTON SAVINGS BANK. 369 

secretary. These together constituted the board of trustees. 
The number of trustees was afterwards reduced to sixteen. 
The treasurer was to be chosen by the trustees and could 
not be one of their own number. A financial committee 
consisting of the president, secretary and three chosen trus- 
tees had direct charge of all investments and other financial 
interests of the corporation.f The smallest deposit was 
fixed at one dollar. Dividends were to be declared on the 
second Monday of April and October each year. 

Of the officers, Charles G. Stevens and George W. Bur- 
dett have retained their respective positions from the begin- 
ning to the present day, and Charles L. Swan has always 
been officially connected with the bank. Of the others, two 
are still residing in town and one or two are living elsewhere. 
All the rest of this representative list of our thrifty and pro- 
gressive men at that earlier time have passed away. Horatio 
N. Bigelow ceased to be president in September, 1865. 
Franklin Forbes followed him in this office. When Mr. 
Forbes died, in January, 1878, Chas. L. Swan was chosen 
president and he has retained the office to the present day. 
September 29, i860, Samuel T. Bigelow became treasurer in 
the place of C. L. Swan. In May of the next year, Artemas 
E. Bigelow was elected to the position. May 7, 1864, C. L. 
S. Hammond, the cashier of the newly created First Na- 
tional Bank of Clinton, was also made treasurer of the Clin- 
ton Savings Bank. 

*The following board of officers were elected at the annual meeting 
in September: President, Horatio N. Bigelow; vice-presidents, Horace 
Faulkner, Gilbert Greene; trustees, Sidney Harris, Franklin Forbes, A. 
P. Burditt, C. W. Blanchard, Ezra Sawyer, G, M. Palmer, Haskell Mc- 
Collum, G. M. Morse, Andrew L. Fuller, Calvin Stanley, P. L. Morgan, 
E. W. Goodale, William Eaton, Donald Cameron, James R. Stewart, 
George P. Smith, Alanson Chace, Joseph B. Parker, Stillman Houghton, 
Levi Greene, Edmund Harris, A. Lord, George W. Burditt, Levi Hol- 
brook; secretary, Charles G. Stevens; treasurer, Charles L. Swan; audi- 
tors, Ezra Sawyer, G. M. Palmer; financial committee, H. N. Bigelow, 
Charles G. Stevgns, Sidney Harris, Joseph B. Parker, C. W. Blanchard. 



370 



CERTAIN PUBLIC ENTERPRISES. 



The office of Lancaster Mills was made the first place of 
deposit, as C. L. Swan was then acting as paymaster there. 
The hours were from ten in the morning to four in the after- 
noon. Donald Cameron took out the first book. This book 
has been used to the present time and is now in the posses- 
sion of Walter M., son of Donald Cameron. In 1853, de- 
posits were also received at the Library Building by Isaac 
Baldwin, the assistant of C. G Stevens, and in 1855 t>y C. F. 
Home, the dentist, at the same place. June 2, 1855, as the 
treasurer, Mr. Swan, went to the Carpet Mill, the office went 
with him. When the building now called the Court House 
was erected by H. N. Bigelow for a private office in 1859, it 
was at once seen that it would be well to have the bank 
located there. It was in this building that Samuel T. Bige- 
low and his successors received deposits until the erection 
of the new bank building at the corner of High and Church 
Streets. 

The amount of deposits in September, 185 1, was two 
thousand six hundred and sixty-seven dollars. Ten years 
later, it had become sixty-nine thousand seven hundred dol- 
lars. In 1865, it was one hundred and twenty-nine thousand 
dollars. Although this seems small compared with present 
deposits (one million six hundred and sixty-nine thousand 
dollars in 1895), yet among the comparatively poor people 
of that earlier time, a people who were using all their spare 
means in providing homes, this deposit represents a high 
degree of thrift. A very large proportion of all the houses 
now standing in Clinton have been built by the aid of mort- 
gages taken by this bank. The bank has always been regu- 
lar in its dividends and confidence in it has never been 
weakened except for a very brief period in 1857, when there 
was a slight inclination to make a run upon it. 

The First National Bank of Clinton was incorporated in 
April, 1864, with an authorized capital of three hundred 
thousand dollars. It began its existence with an actual capi- 
tal of one hundred and ten thousand dollars August 9, 1864; 



CLINTON SAVINGS BANK. 371 

this was increased to one hundred and seventy-five thousand 
dollars, and in November of the same year to two hundred 
thousand dollars, at which figures it has since remained. 
The incorporators were Franklin Forbes, G. M. Palmer, 
Elisha Brimhall, G. M. Morse, W. N. Pierce, E. A. Harris, H. 
C. Greeley, H. N. Bigelow, E. K. Gibbs, C. G. Stevens, C. L. 
Swan, Eneas Morgan, all of Clinton, and R. S. Hastings of 
Berlin. 

The directors chosen were Franklin Forbes, H. N. Big- 
elow, E. A. Harris, H. C. Greeley, C. G. Stevens, C. L. Swan 
and G. M. Palmer, all of Clinton, F. B. Fay of Lancaster 
and R. S. Hastings of Berlin. C. G. Stevens was made 
president and has held that of^ce to the present time. May 
12, 1864, C. L. S. Hammond was made cashier and he was 
soon after made treasurer of the Savings Bank. These 
banks had their office together at the old bank building on 
Union Street. 

Charles L. Swan was born in Biddeford, Maine, Decem- 
ber 23, 1816. He was the son of Charles and Rutha Lassell 
Swan. He obtained his education at the district schools. 
He lived for a while in New Bedford. He came to Clinton- 
ville May i, 1848 and became paymaster of the Lancaster 
Mills. He held this position until he was appointed assist- 
ant to H. N. Bigelow of the Bigelow Carpet Mills, July i, 
1855. He afterwards became manager of the Carpet Mill, 
which ofifice he held until Februar}^ i, 1872. He was made 
treasurer of the Clinton Gas Light Company in 1865, and 
remained seventeen years in this office. He became treas- 
urer of the Gibbs Loom Harness and Reed Company in 
1875, a position he still holds. He was the first treasurer of 
the Clinton Savings Bank from 185 1 to i860. He has been 
president since 1878. He has been a director of the First 
National Bank since its organization in 1864. In 1850 and 
1866, he was on the school committee. He was a selectman 
for two years. He served as fire engineer nine years and on 
the cemetery committee for thirty-six years. He has been 



372 



CERTAIN PUBLIC ENTERPRISES. 



chairman since 1868. He is a member of the Congrega- 
tional Church and treasurer of the board of trustees of the 
German Church. He has been a Republican in politics. 
He bought his present residence on Chestnut Street in 1870. 
He married Lucy Haskell. He has one son and one daugh- 
ter now living. 

C. L. S. Hammond, who has been so closely identified 
with these banks from 1864 to the present time, was born in 
a bank at Kalamazoo, Michigan, in 1837. His father was at 
this time the cashier of the Michigan State Bank and had 
the office in his dwelling-house. Mr. Hammond was called 
hither from the Rollstone Bank in Fitchburg, where he had 
been assistant cashier for some years. The story of his 
efficient labors belongs to a later period of our history. 

The Clinton Gas Light Company was organized by the 
Bigelow Carpet Company and the Lancaster Mills for their 
own benefit, although the people in the town in general were 
allowed to profit thereby. The company was incorporated 
March 8, 1854, with a capital stock of twenty-four thousand 
dollars. Franklin Forbes the president, H. N. Bigelow the 
treasurer, and Henry Kellogg constituted the first board of 
directors. The work of construction and the laying of pipes 
was carried on during 1854 and 1855. In 1856, the capital 
invested was increased to thirty thousand dollars, at which 
figures it remained until after the Civil War. A. E. Bigelow 
was book-keeper for many years. C. L. Swan was made a 
director in 1856 in the place of Henry Kellogg, and he be- 
came treasurer on the resignation of Horatio N. Bigelow, 
May I, 1865, an office which he retained until 1882. Henry 
N. Bigelow followed his father as director. Milton Jewett 
was superintendent of the works from the beginning. 

Milton Jewett, the younger brother of Horace and Theo- 
dore,* was born in Bolton, September 22, 1824. He passed 

*See pages 254-5. 



WORCESTER AND NASHUA RAILROAD. 373 

his boyhood in Sterling and received the education of the 
district schools. Like his brothers, he learned the trade of 
carpenter. February 15, 1849, h^ married Alicia Davis of 
Princeton. They have had eight children. Mr. Jewett came 
to Clintonville in 1842, to work as a carpenter, and followed 
this trade until 1853, when he was made manager of the gas 
works. He held this position for many years. His home- 
stead has been on Pleasant Street. He has been an earnest 
supporter of the Unitarian Society. He has served on the 
board of selectmen and in other town offices. 

August 27, 1846, a meeting was held to consider what 
the people of Lancaster would do to help on the building 
of the Worcester and Nashua Railroad. Jacob Fisher 
was chairman and A. S. Carleton of Clintonville, secretary. 
Among the speakers were W. S. Thurston, Judge Washburn, 
Hon. John Davis, and H. N. Bigelow. The latter spoke of 
the need of earnest effort, of his success in getting subscrip- 
tions in Clintonville just before coming to the meeting, and 
of the probable increase in the value of real estate on ac- 
count of the road. He was appointed chairman of a com- 
mittee to get subscriptions. December 16, 1846, the presi- 
dent of the Clinton Company was authorized by the directors 
to subscribe for five thousand dollars worth of the Worcester 
and Nashua Railroad stock. Twenty-five thousand dollars 
worth of stock was taken by H. N. Bigelow, and the corpor- 
ation took the matter in hand so far as to secure him against 
loss therefrom. December 5, 1848, the Clinton Company 
voted to apply to the legislature for the right to take eighty- 
three shares of Worcester and Nashua Railroad stock. 
Articles appeared in successive issues of the Courant urging 
the citizens to enter heartily into the movement. On Sep- 
tember 19th, the editor congratulated the readers on the 
prospect that the road would be built through Lancaster. 

A meeting of stockholders in Lancaster, September 30th, 
with its adjournment October 7th, decided on the building 



374 CERTAIN PUBLIC ENTERPRISES. 

of the road. There was some attempt to have the road pass 
to the west of CHntonville through Sterling, but the present 
route was permanently decided upon in November. Decem- 
ber 19th, grading had begun in Lancaster. Operations were 
suspended on account of a strike in March. The part of the 
road between Clintonville and Groton was formally opened 
July I, 1848. The passenger and freight stations were not 
finished until the end of the summer. At this time, three 
trains ran each way to and from Boston. J. C. Stiles was still 
running his stage four times a day to Worcester. November 
22d, the road to Worcester was formally opened. Between 
July 1st and November 15, 1848, J. C. Stiles carried ten thou- 
sand four hundred and eleven persons between Worcester 
and Clintonville. He did not give up his business until some 
time after the railroad opened. The road was completed to 
Nashua, December 18, 1848. Three trains a day passed 
through Clintonville each way, northward to Nashua or by 
connections at Groton to Boston, and southward to Worces- 
ter with connection to Boston, Providence and to the West 
through Springfield and New York or through Norwich by 
steamer to New York. H. A. Pollard was station agent. 
He sold lime and plaster from the station. Edwin Bynner, 
the versatile editor of the Courant, was afterwards agent for 
a while, Henry C. Latham also served in the office before 
he went to Kansas, where he was murdered in December, 
1857. Alfred Knight was a station agent for a long period. 

The Boston, Clinton and Fitchburg Railroad was not 
built until after the Civil War. 

Among early stage and express routes the following de- 
serve mention: May 22, 1847, ^- J- Gibson bought out the 
line of stages from Princeton to South Acton, and turned its 
course so that it came through Clintonville. July 10, 1847, 
Mclntyre and Day ran a stage to Shirley to connect with the 
railroad there. They also did an express business, which 
seems to have ceased with the coming of the railroad to 
Clintonville. April 22, 1848, John C. Stiles, who for some 



NATHAN BURDETT. 375 

time previously had a stage line to Worcester, opened a line 
known as the Clintonville and Lowell line. He was a con- 
ductor on the Worcester and Nashua Railroad for five years. 
He built the Cambridge horse railroad and was superintend- 
ent for eighteen years. He was then inspector of hay for 
the street railways in Boston. Bigelow's express to Boston 
began in July, 1848. Bancroft and Harlow ran a depot coach 
from the opening of the railroad in July, 1848, to May 5, 1849, 
and then sold out to Knight and Butterfield. Benjamin F. 
Spafford ran an express route to Worcester, beginning 
October 20, 1849. William P. Holder ran a Boston express 
through Worcester in 1854. Fiske & Co. were engaged in 
the express business here for many years previous to the 
Civil War. Emory Harris, a son of Emory Harris, Senior, 
for twenty-six years owned a line of railroad carriages. For 
a while after the opening of the Boston, Clinton and Fitch- 
burg Railroad, he served as conductor. He was also a 
farmer. He died April 23, 1879, at the age of forty-seven. 

Nathan Burdett was a native of District No. 10, and was 
born May 16, 181 3. We have studied the life of his father's 
family and are therefore already acquainted with his youth. 
He learned the comb trade and pursued it for some years 
after reaching manhood. He married Mar}' E. Carter No- 
vember 9, 1838. The}' had two sons, Charles C. and Edward 
W., and one daughter, who reached maturity. Mr. Burdett 
was for a time a travelling salesman in the dry goods busi- 
ness, but soon after the Worcester and Nashua Railroad was 
finished, he became a jobber and followed this business for 
over thirty years. A considerable portion of the general 
freight was handled by him during all this time. The family 
resided until the seventies on Sterling Street, and then Mr. 
Burdett built on Water Street. He was one of the original 
members of the Baptist Church. He was for five years one 
of the assessors. He united sterling integrity with the most 
genial disposition. He died July i, 1884. His brother 
Thomas, who was born two years later, May 4, 1816, is still 



376 CERTAIN PUBLIC ENTERPRISES. 

living among us, our oldest native citizen. We have been 
indebted to his recollection for many of the facts recorded 
in this volume. He has been a comb maker and a farmer 
residing for some years in Northboro and Leominster, but 
spending most of his life in Clinton. He married Sarah E. 
Woodbury, November 22, 1837. All of his sons and daugh- 
ters have moved away from town. June 14, 1897, he married 
Mrs. Laura Smith. He built his present residence on Wal- 
nut Street in the seventies. 

Previous to December, 1847, the only hotel in the village 
was the old tavern on Main Street still standing to the north 
of the Parker estate. This had formerly been a boarding- 
house. After the village began to develop in 1845, i^ became 
dignified by the title of the " Clintonville Hotel." It was so 
small that it was but poorly fitted to accommodate the large 
number of new citizens that poured into the village at this 
time and were unable to find dwelling-places enough to sup- 
ply their needs. Horace Faulkner was the keeper of this 
tavern or hotel. 

The new hotel was built through the influence of the cor- 
porations, especially for the accommodation of men employed 
by them or doing business with them. The building com- 
pany was called the Clinton House Company or Association. 
H. N. Bigelow was treasurer. October 5, 1848, the Clinton 
Company voted to contribute pro rata with the "other com- 
pany" (Lancaster Mills), toward the cost of construction. 
Two years later, the Clinton Company sold its share of the 
stock for fifteen hundred dollars. Oliver Stone was the con- 
tractor. C. C. Stone and Elisha Brimhall were among his 
workmen. When the hotel was finished, Horace Faulkner, 
at this time a man of forty-eight, came hither from the old 
hotel on Main Street. Mr. Faulkner originally came from 
Walpole, N. H., where he had worked in a machine shop. 
Jerome S. Burdett, his son-in-law, who had previously been 
in the dry goods business with A. P. Burdett, became his 



THE CLINTON HOUSE. 377 

partner. The hotel was formall)' opened by a housewarming 
December 24, 1847. Most of the prominent citizens of Clin- 
tonville were present, and man)' from other sections of the 
town. J. S. Burdett bought out Horace Faulkner, January 
I, 1854. Some years later, Mr. Faulkner moved to Groton 
where he passed the rest of his life. He died in 1880. For 
two years, he was one of the selectmen of Clinton, and for 
two years, he was sent as a representative to the General 
Court. He is the only man from our town who has ever been 
unanimously elected to the latter office. William N. Peirce 
bought the Clinton House property in July, 1858. The hotel 
was leased to W. N. Nichols and others, but, during most of 
the time until the close of the war, it was under direct charge 
of Mr. Peirce. After the war was over, it was sold to Capt. 
William R. Wheelock. When Jerome S. Burdett sold out 
here, he took the Sagamore House in Lynn. He was after- 
wards proprietor of the Leominster Hotel. The Clinton 
House Hall was not built until 1850. There was an opening 
ball on October 2d of that year. Jonas E. Howe was the 
contractor for the building. The hall was separate from the 
hotel until the spring of 1859, when the connecting structure 
was built. The hall has been used for every variety of gath- 
ering. Here, the music of the dance has often been heard; 
here, school exhibitions have taken place; here, Collester's 
and other famous singing schools have given concerts; here, 
many of the most eloquent lecturers of the country have 
thrilled their audiences; here, in town meeting, many impor- 
tant measures have been entered upon; here, the great war 
meetings were held in which our citizens gave expression to 
their patriotism by such noble words and deeds. 

No class of public servants have been more closely con- 
nected with the material progress of our community than 
the civil engineers and architects who have lived and worked 
among us, and therefore it seems proper to connect their 
story with that of the banks, railroads and other similar pub- 
lic institutions. 



378 CERTAIN PUBLIC ENTERPRISES. 

Most of the general surveying in Clintonville was done 
by James G. Carter of Lancaster Center, who was closely 
connected also with the legal life of the community, since 
the civil cases were in a large measure tried before him. 

The first engineering work for our mills was done by that 
eccentric genius, Uriah A. Boyden, who invented the Boyden 
turbine wheel and thus gained twenty per cent in the power 
of water utilized. Mr. Boyden was never a regular resident 
in town, but came hither as occasion demanded. 

John Chipman Hoadley was born in Turin, N. Y., Decem- 
ber 10, 1818. He began his work as an engineer in 1836, on 
a survey for enlarging the Erie Canal. In 1844, he came to 
Clintonville to work for E. B. and H. N. Bigelow in the con- 
struction of the mills. He did the civil engineering con- 
nected with the mills and also laid out the general system of 
streets as they now exist in the center of the town. The 
map of the streets as thus laid out by him is still in existence, 
and is often referred to in cases of disputed boundaries. He 
was one of a committee to erect the Town House in Lan- 
caster, April 5, 1847. Hs took an earnest interest in the 
Bigelow Mechanics' Institute and lectured twice for that or- 
ganization in 1846-7. He lived on the southwest corner of 
High and Water Streets, in the house built by John Prescott, 
4th. When he left Clintonville in August, 1848, he was pre- 
sented with a gold watch by his fellow townsmen as a token 
of esteem. He went from here to Pittsfield, where he and 
Donald McKay established works for building locomotives 
and textile machinery. For a while, he was superintendent 
of the Lawrence machine shop, but most of his life was de- 
voted to the construction of engines. He invented the 
Hoadley portable engine, which had a great sale throughout 
the country. He was interested in the organization of the 
Clinton Wire Cloth Company. During the Civil War he 
went to England under the auspices of the State of Massachu- 
setts, to inspect ordnance and fortifications for the purpose 
of planning a system of coast defences. He often served as 



CIVIL ENGINEERS. 379 

a mechanical and engineering expert. He was one of the 
original trustees of the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- 
nology. He wrote many technical papers for scientific soci- 
eties. The most important of these was "American Steam 
Engine Practice." He died October 21, 1886. 

"In the spring of 1847, ^ young man left his home in the 
city of Lowell for the village of Clintonville, coming all the 
way in a stage-coach, a tedious ride, and taking the larger 
part of a day." This young man was Joshua Thissell, who 
was a native of Lowell. He was born December 11, 1823, 
and was the son of Joshua and Prudence (Wood) Thissell. 
He worked on his father's farm, which was in Centralville, 
one of the outlying villages of Lowell. He studied at the 
district school and spent a few terms at Centralville Academy. 
Here, Benjamin F. Butler was one of his teachers. But, he 
says, that the largest and best part of his education was "by 
the open fire with a tallow dip candle." He studied civil 
engineering with Mr. Bennett of Lowell. His visit to Clin- 
tonville in the spring of 1847 was for the purpose of assist- 
ing John C. Hoadley in engineering work for the corpora- 
tions. In the following year, he came again, this time as 
Mr. Hoadley's successor. Mr. Thissell recollects staking 
out the cellars for nearly all the dwelling-houses on Green 
Street, for the dye-house of Lancaster Mills and for a large 
addition to the main bod)' of the mill. For many years all 
the civil engineering for the corporations, and nearly all that 
of the town, was done by him. He was also an architect 
and many hundreds of the buildings now standing in Clinton 
were constructed in accordance with his plans. His office 
was first in the old counting-room at the Bigelow Carpet 
Company's Worsted Mill; afterwards, for several years, in 
the old Library Building. Later, it was in the basement of 
the old Bank Building, now the Court House. For some 
years, it has been in Doggett's Block. 

Mr. Thissell has been a justice of peace since 1858, and 
has made out many legal papers. For years, civil cases 



38o CERTAIN PUBLIC ENTERPRISES. 

were tried before him. The confidence in his judgment and 
justice was universal.* Hon. John W. Corcoran tried his first 
case in this court. 

November 7, 1849, Mr. Thissell married Martha Sarah 
Brown of Lowell. By this marriage he had one son and four 
daughters, of whom, one son and one daughter are now liv- 
ing. His son, Horace A. Thissell, has been for some years 
his father's partner. Mr. Thissell's first wife having died 
August 12, 1876, he married her sister, Mary B. F. Brown, 
November 24, 1877. He has lived for over a quarter of a 
century in a house, which he built on the corner of Prospect 
and Chestnut Streets. 

Mr. Thissell is a deacon of the Baptist Church. He 
served as superintendent of the Sunday School for some 
years, and has taken a most active part in all church interests. 
Few of our citizens have been so often elected to town offi- 
ces. He was selectman for four years, three of which he 
was chairman; he was assessor for two years and road com- 
missioner for three. For thirty-six years he he has been on 
the cemetery committee. His most valuable service has 
been as a member of the school committee. On this board, 
he served for twenty-one years, a longer period than any 
other man. For most of this time, he was secretary and 
performed many of the duties that now fall to the superin- 
tendent of schools. In all these offices, he has been thor- 
oughly devoted to the good of the community, and we may 
well apply to him what he has said of his associates: "These 
men did not live for self, and I am led not only to cherish 
their memories, but to bless their very existence." 

* His commissions as justice of the peace are as follows: — 
April 12, 1858. N. P. Banks, Governor. 
April 4, 1865. John A. Andrew, Governor. 
March 22, 1872. Wm. B. Washburn, Governor. 
March 12, 1879. Thomas Talbot, Governor. 
March 3, 1886. George D. Robinson, Governor. 
February 16, 1893. Wm. E. Russell, Governor. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 
THE COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT OF CLINTON. 

The first store of which we have any record in District 
No. 10 was that kept by Poignand & Plant and their succes- 
sors, the Lancaster Cotton Manufacturing Company, for 
their operatives. It is likely that something was done in 
the way of furnishing family supplies soon after the business 
was established. In the twenties, the goods were kept in a 
building situated on Water Street just off Main Street. In 
the western end of this building was a station for a little 
hand fire engine belonging to the mills. In the middle was 
the store, and a back store-room. At the eastern end, was 
the mill office. The operatives and the people in Factory 
Village who did any work for the corporation were paid in 
part by goods trom the store. The general public also oc- 
casionally purchased from this small stock. We are told 
that John G. Thurston had charge of the store for a time. 

There was another little store by the early thirties in Scrab- 
ble Hollow. The building in which it was kept is still stand- 
ing in a re-modeled form on its original site nearly opposite 
the residence of E. K. Gibbs. This store was kept by a man 
named Hunt. He soon failed and it went into the hands of 
Franklin Brigham. It is probable that Whitcomb & Hol- 
man of Bolton furnished the stock. Francis E. Lowe acted 
as clerk. Both these stores in Factory Village were given up 
before the mills were closed, and for several years there was 
no store nearer than South Lancaster. 

These stores received only a small part of the trade of 



382 COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT. 

the people who were then living in Factory Village, as the 
larger stores of South Lancaster or Lancaster Center proved 
more attractive on account of their greater variety. The 
people traded especially with John G. Thurston, whose store 
was just south of the present position of the South Lancas- 
ter Academy building. 

Between 1843 ^^id 1850, District No. 10 developed from 
the position of an outlying hamlet, dependent on the stores 
of the neighboring villages for the necessities of life, to a 
commercial center for all the surrounding towns. 

After the village began to be busy once more through 
the coming of the Bigelows, the store in the old oflfice build- 
ing of Poignand & Plant on Water Street was opened again. 
John G. Thurston owned the goods and Lory F. Bancrort 
had the management of the business. Mr. Bancroft came 
here in the early forties from Phillipston. He was a man 
full of enthusiasm and enterprise, always ready for some- 
thing new. He became very popular among the people and 
was by character well fitted to act as a pioneer in developing 
the trade of the community. 

An arrangement was made whereby he entered into part- 
nership with George H. Kendall for the sale of dry goods 
and groceries. Dr. Pierson T. Kendall of Sterling, father 
of George H., erected a building on the corner of High and 
Church Streets, which had been recently laid out. For some 
years, this Kendall building was a center of the commercial 
interests of the community as its successor on the same site, 
the Bank Block, is at present. This building when the Bank 
Block was erected was moved to the corner of Church and 
School Streets, where, in its altered form, it is now standing. 

The young partners moved into the central store of the 
new building as soon as it was finished. This was as early 
as the spring of 1845. They sold all varieties of goods, in- 
cluding groceries, clothing, dry goods, patent medicines and 
furniture. They did a big business with little profit. Before 



KENDALL BUILDING. 383 

the close of the year, the partnership was dissolved. George 
H. Kendall remained in the store they had occupied together 
and continued to deal in dry goods. He afterwards returned 
to the variety business. Mr. Kendall was a " boss politician " 
as well as a merchant, and in the rear part of his store the 
political action of the community was pre-arranged. After 
being alone for some four years, Mr. Kendall went into part- 
nership January I, 1850, with James W. Caldwell, his brother- 
in-law, from Barre. April 6, 1850, Kendall sold out his 
share to Caldwell. In August, 1850, Caldwell sold, in turn, 
to Kendall. This Mr. Caldwell afterwards became a success- 
ful coal dealer in New York. In 1859, Mr. Kendall sold out 
to H. C. Greeley. Charles H. Parkhurst was one of Greeley's 
clerks. In October, 1861, Mr. Greeley moved to the south- 
west corner of High Street and was followed in the Kendall 
Block by George B. Wooster. Mr. Wooster came to Clin- 
tonville in 1849. I" 1856, he became a clerk to A. R. Mar- 
shall. In 1859, he was in business for himself. Mr. Wooster 
remained in the Kendall Block for many years. George H. 
Kendall went from Clinton to Worcester and worked as a 
shipping clerk in the office of Washburn & Moen. He died 
in 1889. Among the clerks employed by Kendall and Cald- 
well in early times, were John F. Caldwell, "a sandy-haired 
youth" of "easy manners," who afterwards went into busi- 
ness in Boston, and Joseph Lathrop, "a black-eyed favorite 
and miscellaneous beau," who became a dentist in Detroit. 
Albert A. Jerauld was employed as a tailor. Mr. Jerauld 
was born at Warwick, Rhode Island, in 1816. The family of 
his father, Stephen Jerauld, soon after his birth moved to 
Northboro and here he passed his youth. He learned his 
trade in Boston, whence he came to Clinton. His shop was 
in the rear of Kendall's store. After the post-office was 
moved in 1853, he went into the north room. He was soon 
in business for himself. He carried a stock of ready made 
clothing and cut and made garments. He was for many 
years a member of the Unitarian Church choir. He built a 



384 COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT. 

double house on the east side of Chestnut Street in com- 
pany with Dr. D. B. Ingalls. After faithfully serving the 
community for over a quarter of a century as a tradesman 
and a citizen, he died October 17, 1878. Of his three sons, 
Fred G. Jerauld, who followed his father in business, is the 
only one who remains among us. 

The post-oflfice, which was established in 1846, was first 
kept in the north room of the Kendall Block. Before this 
time, the mail was brought from Lancaster and distributed 
by Lory F. Bancroft. Horatio N. Bigelow was the first post- 
master, but George H. Kendall had direct charge of the 
of^ce and John F. Caldwell did most of the work. Those 
who came for mail outside of the special times for distribu- 
tion rang a bell which was answered by some one who was 
employed in the store. In the fifties, there were mails twice 
each day to and from Boston and twice to and from Worces- 
ter. J. T. Dame received his commission as a postmaster 
September 22, 1853, and he had his office in the new Library 
Building. Edwin Bynner said in the Courant of October 8th, 
in his usual style: "Our old post-office is closed and dreary; 
the glory has departed from it. As one stands within the 
deserted area, how strange the memories that throng upon 
us; how sad the vacancy. Where is the eager crowd — the 
expectant faces which were wont to light it up? * * * Here 
was joy announced — sorrow born; life assured and death 
heralded. * * * Here from yonder insignificant boxes came 
news of dire or blest import, changing life's aspect, blasting 
its hopes, or basing upon sure foundation its too evanescent 
joys." 

The lower floor of the south wing of the Kendall building 
was occupied by Gilbert Greene as a jeweller until 1846. 
Mary Ann Newman, a dressmaker, was here in 1847. Mrs. 
C. D. Davis, milliner and dressmaker, had rooms here in 
1848. A long succession of grocers followed in the south 
part of the building. W. H. Chamberlain, who had moved 
here from G. P. Smith's building, sold out to Sawyer & 



BANCROFT I5UILDlNrx. 385 

Brother. In 1852, Sawyer & Brother gave way to W. C. Car- 
ter and W. H. Harlow. Carter bought out Harlow in 1853, 
and in the following year he sold out to Fanning & Moore.. 
They dis.solved partnership in 1855. Simeon Bowman and 
son were in business here in 1856. Then George Bowman 
and A. M. Blair, then- Blair alone. He sold out to W. N. 
Peirce in March, 185;. William N. Peirce and J. F. Howell 
were here in 1858. A. & N. Churchill were here in 1859. 

The Bigelow Mechanics' Institute had it^ library and 
reading room in the southeast corner of the second floor 
from the time of its organization in 1847. Charles G. 
Stevens, attorney and insurance agent, had an office in the 
southw'est corner. Isaac Baldwin was with him for a while, 
first as a student and then as an assistant in office work. In 
1855, he went to Clinton, Iowa. 

John B. Atkinson, Jr., "a famous Odd Fellow," had a 
tailor shop in the second story. He was followed by 
Charles H. Moore in the spring of 1847. ^- C. Rice & Co. 
were here over the post-office in 1849. ^^ one time, Dr. C. 
F. Home, a dentist, had an office here. He removed to 
VVatertown. Hiram Makepeace, a carpenter, "a wag of lofty 
stature," lived in a tenement here. 

When Lory F. Bancroft dissolved partnership with George 
H. Kendall, he started in the grocery business for himself on 
the corner of Union and High Streets where Greeley's Block 
now stands. The old building of Poignand & Plant, which 
had been constructed at least twenty years before, and which 
we have noted as being used for a store-room, office and en- 
gine house, was moved from Water Street to this location. 
Some of this structure is now in William H. Nugent's Block 
on Union Street. This store, like most of those in early 
times, was reached by a flight of steps. On summer even- 
ings, these steps were a gathering place for the male gossips 
of the town. Mr. Bancroft lived in an L which was built 
out toward the north. In the spring of 1846, Dr. G. W. 



386 COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT. 

Burdett, who had just completed his medical studies, took 
an office in the second story of this building. C. D. Cook, 
a dentist, also had an office here, where he practiced until 
1848, when he went to Worcester. In the spring of 1847, 
Misses Whitney and Gould opened millinery and dressmak- 
ing rooms in the second story. E. H. Amsden, a daguer- 
rean, was also here during the same year. An office in the 
second story was occupied in 1849 ^y W. N. Snow, a dentist 
who had come to Clintonville about a year before. Frank 
E. Carr of Westminster first commenced business here as a 
"tonsorial artist" in the early fifties. 

Mr. Bancroft made a specialty of medicines, which he 
advertised as compounded by Dr. G. W. Burdett. Joseph 
Bancroft was with his brother for some time as a clerk. In 
1847, ^^^ ^^^ of Bancroft & Carter was also engaged in the 
ice business. In 1848, Bancroft & Harlow ran a coach from 
the railroad station. Mr. Bancroft sold out his stock in the 
store to Harlow & Flagg in September, 1848. At this time, 
he took into his own hands all the livery and coach business. 
His stable was where Howards' now stands. He sold to 
Knight & Butterfield, May 5, 1849. Knight sold out to 
Butterfield, and Butterfield sold to G. F. and S. T. Howard 
in 1858. A farewell supper at the Clinton House was given 
Mr. Bancroft by his many friends. After staying for a time 
in the livery business in Hadley, he was engaged in jobbing 
in Worcester. Later, he became interested in a company 
which was formed in that city to raise the treasure which 
was supposed to be buried in the British frigate, Huzzah. 
This frigate was sunk at Hell Gate when bringing over gold 
to pay the British Army during the Revolution. Mr. B. 
worked for some years as the active manager of the com- 
pany. Although the treasure was not discovered, Mr. Ban- 
croft saved some money from his salary and bought a farm 
on the outskirts of Worcester, where he lived to a good old 
age. 

Harlow & Flagg dissolved August i, 1849. ^V. H. Har- 



BANCROFT BUILDINGS. 387 

low continued the business until October 19, 1850, when he 
sold to VV. C. Carter and Josiah Alexander, Jr. Carter sold 
out his interest to Alexander in 1852. Josiah Alexander 
was born June 6, 1829, at Northfield, where he spent his boy- 
hood. He was afterwards a clerk in a variety store in Wor- 
cester. He taught school in Northboro before coming to 
Clinton. In February, 1858, Mr. Alexander moved his store 
to the new block which had been erected by Elisha Brimhall 
at the corner of High and Church Streets. He had the 
store in the southeast corner of the building. Here he re- 
mained until 1864, when he sold out to D. A. White and S. 
W. Tyler who had been associates in the Twenty-fifth Mas- 
sachusetts Band, and then he removed to Boston, and he has 
since been engaged in business there. Mr. Alexander, both 
in the length of his stay and in the amount of his business, 
was the principal grocer of Clinton during the first fifteen 
years of its existence as a town. He was also a public- 
spirited citizen and was one of the selectmen in 1855-6. He 
was especially interested in the fire companies and the local 
militia. Among Mr. Alexander's clerks were Samuel T. 
Miles, "a shrewd, genial character," and George W. Moore, 
"of some literary pretension," S. A. Lenfest, now in a 
Marlboro clothing store, and Josiah Bacon. Lucius Field, 
who has since been such an important factor in the later 
history of the town, was a nephew of Mr. Alexander. He 
came here to act as his clerk in 1857. He was born in 
Northfield, August 10, 1840. He worked for Mr. Alexander 
until his enlistment in the army in 1862.* C. H. Chace & 
Co. followed Alexander in the Bancroft building. Wilder & 
Orr, and W. G. Wilder & Co. were later occupants. There 
was a barber's shop in the basement. 

Lory F. Bancroft in 1845 built a one-story structure on 
the east side of High Street, just north of his store. Hiram 
Makepeace was the contractor. Sidney Harris furnished the 
capital. In a changed form, this building still stands on its 

*See War Record, 



388 COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT. 

original site and is occupied by C. W. Field & Son. On its 
completion, it was immediately rented by C. W. Field, tailor, 
and Ballard & Messenger, printers and stationers. The for- 
mer located on the south side, the latter on the north side, 
with the printing room in the rear and the store in front.* 
Ballard & Messenger were followed in 1853 by Keith & Co., 
dry goods. Later, William Pierce, a milliner, was here. J. 
H. Raymore opened eating rooms under the printing office. 
Levi H. Carter followed him, then came Abijah Carter, a 
brother of Levi, who remained five years. 

Charles W. Field was a native of Northfield and served 
his apprenticeship as a tailor in Athol. He was afterwards 
in business in Walpole, N. H. He came to this village June 
16, 1846. He was at first a tailor and then sold read3'-made 
clothing. He lived in the rear L of the store building. 
After half a century of successful business, he still remains 
at the old stand, now in partnership with his son, C. W. Field, 
Junior. The upper story of the tenement was at first used 
as a hall for temperance meetings., When the new Trinity 
Lodge of Free Masons organized in Clinton in 1858, it leased 
this hall and continued to occupy it until 1869. 

By the spring of 1846, Gilbert Greene, whom we have 
noted as being in the south store of Kendall's Block, put up 
a two-storied wooden building on the estate now owned by 
his heirs on High Street. It was on the corner of the estate 
where H. A. Burdett's drug store is now. The lower floor 
was occupied by Mr. Greene as a jeweller's shop until he 
built his brick block. This building, which in later years 
was used as a drug store, f was destroyed when the north part 
of the present Greene Block was completed in 1888. Mr. 
Greene also built an L adjoining his store on the south. 
Here, he lived several years. This, was afterwards moved 
back from the street, as a cottage. It is now destroyed. 

*See pages concerning Courant. fSee pages 397-8. 



GILBERT GREENE. 389 

His first brick block was not completed until June, 1858. 
He then moved his jewelry store into it. J. J. Boynton took 
the upper story for ambrotype rooms, and the Peveys and J. 
T. Dame had offices here. 

Gilbert Greene was born in Stoneham in 1814. He learned 
his trade and worked in Holden. He went to Lancaster 
about 1839, and had a small jewelry store in the building 
now opposite the Orthodox Church; this building then stood 
in the same square the Orthodox Church now occupies. He 
was afterwards for a while in the brick store. Dissatisfied 
with the business prospects in Lancaster, he moved to Man- 
chester, N. H. When Clintonville began to develop in 1845, 
he came hither. While in Lancaster, he had been the leader 
of the choir in the Orthodox Church and was always deeply 
interested in music. "It was a rare treat to hear him tell 
of 'old times.'" "He possessed the compound ability of 
cleaning a watch in good shape and telling a good story at 
the same time." We shall find him prominently connected 
with the organization and development of the Congrega- 
tionalist Society in Clinton. He was a selectman of the town 
for several years. He was a vice-president of the Savings 
Bank and a director of the First National Bank. In January, 
i860, Walter W. Pierce, who had been his clerk, became his 
partner, but he died in June of the following year. Mr. 
Greene continued business until his death, June 26, 1875. 

Among the first of the old settlers to take advantage of 
the new impetus given to business, was Deacon John Bur- 
dett. In 1845, he erected a building on High Street where 
Dexter's Rink now stands. This building was removed to 
East Street by T. D. Dexter, who occupies it as a dwelling- 
house. The store was rented by Mr. Burdett's nephews, 
Augustus P. and Jerome S. Burdett, who sold dry goods and 
clothing. The partnership was dissolved July 16, 1847. J- S- 
Burdet entered into partnership with his father-in-law, Hor- 
ace Faulkner, in charge of the Clinton House. A. P. Burdett 



390 COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT. 

kept on with the business. Horatio S. Burdett was his clerk. 
Albert T. Burdett looked after the tailoring department. 
Jerome S. was the son of James Burdett. The other three 
were sons of Phineas Burdett. Both James and Phineas 
were brothers of Nathan and lived in Leominster. In 
August, 1847, H- K. Dunbar, a tailor, took rooms in the sec- 
ond story. Dr. G. W. Symonds also had an ofifice here for 
many years. A. P. Burdett stayed in this store until Septem- 
ber, 1849. L. D. Lyon, a dealer in boots and shoes, took his 
old stand. Deacon John Burdett built another house north of 
the first on the adjoining lot. This is still standing in its 
original location. The lower story was used for tenements, 
but there was a hall in the second story which was known as 
Concert Hall. This was used by the Second Adventists for 
religious meetings. 

When A. P. Burdett left his old store building, he went 
into a new one which he had just finished on the west corner 
of High and Union Streets. This building, with some addi- 
tions which have since been made, is still standing. It was 
at this time the finest store building that Clintonville had 
seen. Jonas E. Howe was the contractor. Mr. Burdett and 
his brothers continued business there until the summer of 
1852. He then moved to Mississippi and afterwards to Mem- 
phis, Tennessee. He made a fortune in cotton planting, but 
he afterwards lost it and became a commission merchant in 
New York and Boston. A. T. Burdett worked as a tailor in 
Boston. H. S. Burdett became a partner in the firm of 
Whitten & Burdett in the same city, with which he is still con- 
nected. Dr. G. W. Burdett* and Dr. Jeremiah Fiske* bought 
the building in 1852. 

Of Orlando A. Smith, A. P. Burdett's successor, W. E. 
Parkhurst says: "As a bachelor village merchant, Mr. Smith 
did full justice to his calling. Never have we known a more 
genial dealer or one who had more thoroughly learned that 

* See further account by aid of index. 



A. P. BURDETT'S BUILDING. 391 

profitable mercantile trick of taking an absorbing interest in 
the health and personal welfare of his customers and all of 
his or her immediate and remote relations. In variety of 
assortment, his store resembled an overcrowded museum; 
from pianos and silks to yarns and buttons, nothing was 
omitted. Mr. Smith was a natural musician and for a time 
was the leader and organist of the Baptist choir, playing on 
a small melodeon, but as a seller of dry goods he ably illus- 
trated the secular version of the doctrine, known as 'perse- 
verance of the saints.' Mr. Smith's confidential clerk was 
Horace W. Robinson, a polite Shylock, with a squeaking 
voice, pitched in the third story of his bronchial tubes, but a 
genial, happy soul. It was the general understanding that 
between Horace and 'O. A.' a customer stood a very small 
chance of getting out of the store without making a pur- 
chase." Among the other clerks were W. Atwood McCurdy 
and William H. Putnam; also B. F. Warner, who built the 
house on Water Street now occupied by Mrs. J. T. Dame. 
O. A. Smith sold to H. C. Greeley in 1861, and went into 
business in Worcester. He subsequently went to Newton. 

A. A. Burditt had a drug store in the north room of the first 
floor during the first three years. Then came Horace W. 
Robinson's millinery store. In 1857, Sarah M. Stuart took 
the business. Alonzo P. Boynton next sold boots and shoes. 
Then followed a series of millinery stores, among them, those 
of B. R. Smith and Mrs. J. R. Deming. 

Miss Ellen Skillenger of Poland, Maine, had millinery 
rooms at first in the south room, second story. She stayed a 
short time, and was followed by Dr. Jeremiah Fiske as a den- 
tist. The north front office was rented in succession by the 
Bigelow Mechanics' Institute; A. T. Burdett, tailor; H. K. 
Dunbar, tailor; J. B. Haskins; Miss H. B. Roe, milliner; D. 
H. Bemis, attorney at law. The latter entered it in 1864, and 
remained many years. The rear rooms were occupied by 
various parties, including C. F. Home, dentist, Horace H. 
Waters, and Harrison Leland. The third story was let as a 



392 



COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT. 



hall to various religious organizations, and there all sorts of 
entertainments were given, and it was for a time a place of 
meeting for political caucuses and temperance organizations. 
C. D. Davis was the first grocer in the basement. A. O.War- 
ner and A. E. Smith were grocers there in 1850. A. E. Smith 
and G. E. Harrington continued business here in 1851. In 
1852, Smith sold out to Harrington. In January, 1855, it 
was changed to a Union Store in charge of J. F. Maynard. 
The members of the Union weighed and measured their own 
goods and charged them on the books. The Union was not 
a success, and, in 1862, J. F. Maynard bought out the store. 
Maynard sold to William H. Haskell before the war closed. 
Mr. Maynard was born in Marlboro in 1820. He lived in 
Shrewsbury and in Boylston. He came to Clinton in 1850. 
His home was on South Main Street. Here, he had a gro- 
cery store for some years. After selling out to Wm. H. 
Haskell, he did business for twenty years in Boston. He 
died January 9, 1888. As chairman of the board of select- 
men during the Civil War, he did most efBcient service. We 
shall find him one of the leading members of the Methodist 
Society and for fifteen years the superintendent of the Sun- 
day School. Frank Howard, a tailor, and James Greenwood, 
as clothier, were in the west room of the basement. H. T. 
Goodale, a native of Marlboro, born in 1824, opened a shoe 
store here in the basement in 1852. In 1864, he sold out to 
G. W. Laythe. At a later time, he manufactured boots and 
shoes both in Fitchburg and Clinton. He died in 1886. 

George P. Smith built a block on the west side of High 
Street where Doggett's Block now stands, in 1847. When 
Doggett's Block was built, this was moved back from the 
street to make way for the finer structure. Mr. Smith was 
born in Wilton, N. H. He lived in Nashua before coming 
to Clintonville. His first advestisement in the Courant ap- 
pears October 23, 1847. ^^ sold dry goods, West India 
goods and crockery. Mr. Smith lived in a tenement in the 



G. P. SMITH'S BUILDING. 393 

upper stor}' of the store building until he built, in the winter 
of 1854-5, the house on the east side of Chestnut Street now 
occupied by Mrs. Gilbert Greene. He was a successful 
merchant and an influential citizen, prominently connected 
with the most important interests of the community. He 
was one of the organizers of the Baptist Church. He sold 
out his business to Burton S. Walker, his junior partner, in 
1871. He had already moved to Bricksburg, N. J., some 
years before. There, he died April 6, 1874, at the age of 
fift}'-eight. Among the clerks employed in the store were: 
Joseph Holt; Orlando A. Smith, a brother, who afterwards 
had a store of his own which we have already mentioned; 
N. Chandler Sawyer, who went into the banking business in 
Brattleboro, Vt.; and W. H. Chamberlain, who bought out 
the grocery department. William H. Putnam who went to 
Boston, and John H. Ring, also worked for him. 

H. C. Greeley, Mr. Smith's brother-in-law, was his most 
notable clerk, and became a partner February 21, 1855. 
Henry C. Greele}' was born October 15, 1830, in Hudson, N. 
H. He attended an academy in Nashua, where he was under 
the instruction or the famous David Crosb}'. He completed 
preparation for college in the academy at Hancock, where 
he studied for three years. He expected to enter Brown 
University, but the attraction of business proved too strong, 
so he became a clerk for Mr. Smith in 1849. ^^ have 
already noted the stores which he opened in Kendall's Block 
and Burdett's Block. He married Jane Osgood, a daughter 
of Samuel Osgood. In 1861, he bought an estate on Walnut 
Street of Mrs. Mehitable Freeman. His early success was 
the result of that commercial ability which was in future 
years to make him the recognized leader among the mer- 
chants of Clinton. From i860 to 1870, he was town clerk. He 
was a selectman in 1870-71. He was on the school commit- 
tee from 1867-78. He served in the senate in 1870-71, and 
on Governor Robinson's council in 1885 ^"^ 1886. Mrs. C. 
D. Davis had milliner's rooms here in Smith's Block in 1850. 



394 COMMERCIAL DEVELOFMENT. 

She was followed by Miss A. S. Merriam in 1854. The offices 
above were occupied in early times by Dr. A. W. Dillingham, 
Dr. C. A. Brooks, J. T. Dame, Esq., and D. H. Bemis, Esq. 

A. L. Burbank opened a jewelr)' store in the south room 
of Clinton House Hall building in 1850, but he soon sold out. 
O. A. Smith was here in 185 1, with musical instruments and 
dry goods. In 1852, Smith moved to A. P. Burdett's Block 
and Eliphas Ballard took the room. Here, he had a book- 
store, while his printing business was done in the room 
below. H. J. Chapman sold ready-made clothing in this 
building in 1850. The clothing store was occupied in a later 
time by Daniel Haverty, who was followed by Levi H. Carter, 
March 3, 1855. ^^ was followed by John R. Foster and W. 
H. Ashley in January, 1857. John R. Foster was born in 
Moretown, Vt., November 7, 1834. He began to work in a 
store at the age of twelve. He was for some time a clerk 
in Waterbury, Vt. In September, 1856, he went into partner- 
ship with W. H. Ashley, in the clothing business, in Clinton. 
Their store was in the A. H. Pierce Block on Church Street; 
thence they moved to the Clinton House Hall Block. Ash- 
ley remained in Clinton but a few months, then Mr. Foster 
took the business alone and carried it on until 1870, when he 
started the clothing stores in Danielsonville, Ct., Willimantic, 
Ct., and other places, which have proved so profitable to him, 
and have enabled him to add so much to the beauty of the 
town through his private residence and public benefactions. 

John H. Ring was the son of Benjamin Ring, the furniture 
dealer, who went into business in Clintonville in December, 
1849. During his youth and young manhood, John H. Ring 
was interested in literary matters. In 1853, he published our 
first Clinton book. It was entitled: " New England Rhymes. 
Sacred and Passionate." It was a small volume of poems 
and other papers. He was a prominent member of the Clin- 
ton Rhetorical Society. For some years, he served as a 
clerk in the store of G. P. Smith. In April, 1859, he went 



WINTER'S BUILDING. 395 

into partnership with J. R. Foster and opened a dry goods 
store in No. 2, Clinton House Block. Mr. Foster moved his 
clothing business meanwhile into the room now used as a to- 
bacco store. In September, Ring bought out Foster's share 
and continuedthe business alone until October, 1861. He then 
removed to Ware, and from thence, after a short time, to 
Worcester, where he kept a fanc}' goods store until his death 
at the age of thirty-eight, in March, 1873. 

Lorenzo D. Lyon, who was a native of Halifax, and had 
previously been engaged in business in Lowell and at the 
John Burdett building, opened a shoe store here in the room 
now occupied by Heagney's drug store, upon the completion 
of the building. He carried on the business for more than 
twenty years, and then removed to North Attleboro, where 
he died in 1888. L. Coburn, a negro barber, was in this 
building until 1855, when he left town. 

C. A. Merriam and Company carried on the shoe business 
in a small structure which the}' built in 1845 o" ^^^ spot 
where Bourne's store now stands. Merriam having died 
about the beginning of 1848, the business was carried on by 
the survivmg partner, M. D. Hawes, until 1849, when it was 
sold out to Tyler & Bartlett. Mr. Hawes went to Leomin- 
ster. During the previous }'ear, Benjamin T}ler had been in 
the same business on Church Street. In August, 185 1, Dea- 
con Waldo Winter and his brother, Aaron E., carried on the 
boot and shoe trade here. Then, Aaron E. Winter was alone 
in 1852. The business soon came into the hands of Dexter 
S. K. Winter, who also manufactured some in the room 
above. He sold out in 1855, to his father. For nearly half 
a centur}', Deacon Waldo Winter, or members of his family, 
have had control of the business. Richard Bourne, his son- 
in-law, is the present proprietor. Deacon Winter was born 
in West Boylston, 1802. He had had a variety store in West 
Berlin, in the long block above the railroad bridge, and had 
lived in Northboro, and had had a store with his brother. 



396 COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT. 

Aaron E., in the "brick" building in West Boylston, and a 
second one at Beaman's Mills. He was postmaster at West 
Boylston, and deacon in the Congregational Church before 
he came to Clinton. He had kept boarding-houses in Pond 
Court and at No. i Green Street before he bought the shoe 
store. He died February 28, 1887. 

Alfred A. Burditt, the youngest son of Nathan, was born 
June 20, 1827. He went to Worcester County Manual Labor 
High School. He taught in Lancaster, Shrewsbury and 
Leominster. Februar}' 26, 1849, he opened a drug store 
in a small building on Church Street, opposite the present 
Courant office. This was built as a stand for Emory Harris, 
who did a small business here for a short time. S. P. Hey- 
wood, dressmaker and milliner, was in this building in 1847 
and 1848. The record of Mr. Burditt's first day's business 
on Church Street was as follows: Confectionery, fourteen 
cents; medicines, thirty-one cents; fancy goods, forty-four 
cents; valentines, ten cents; cigars, nine cents. Total, one 
dollar and eight cents. Profit, fifty-five cents. He married 
Matilda A. Boynton, June 17, 1849. ^n October of the same 
year, he moved into the north store of A. P. Burdett's Block. 
The first druggist's license for selling liquors in Clintonville 
was given to A. A. Burditt, January 2, 1850, by the county 
commissioners. Mr. Burditt erected a block just north of A. 
P. Burdett's in 1852, where he continued the druggist business. 
G. F. and S. T. Howard were the builders of this block. His 
family lived for some time in a tenement above his drug store. 
He bought the Kellogg estate on the corner of Church and 
Chestnut Streets, in the hard times of 1857, for four thousand 
four hundred and twenty-five dollars. Among Mr. Burditt's 
clerks were: James Curtis, W. P. White, W. A. Macurda, 
Edward Winter, W. D. Burdett, O. F. Sawyer, C. C. Burdett, 
A. P. Boynton, W. L. Boynton, C. L. Woodbury, W. S. 
Noyes, Burrill Morse and Stephen Todd. For ten years, 
Mr. Burditt enjoyed a monopoly of the drug business. He 



DAGUERREAN ARTISTS. 



397 



has been one of the leading members of the Baptist Society. 
From 1863 to 1866, he was one of the selectmen of the town, 
and in more recent times he has been on the school commit- 
tee nine years, and town treasurer one year. He has served 
in the legislature,. His three sons are all well known citi- 
zens. Two of them have followed their father's business. 

W. A. Macurda, who had previously been a clerk for A. 
A. Burditt, carried on the drug business for some years in 
the Greene building which stood where H. A. Burdett's 
drug store now is. He was subsequently in Fitchburg in the 
same business. He is now in Watertown in the insurance 
business. Charles C. Burdett went into this store after the 
war. He went to Springfield and then to Conway, where he 
recently died. 

There were numerous daguerrean artists who carried on 
business in this community in early times. Among them 
were E. H. Amsden, who was at the Bancroft buildingr in 
1847; T. W. Russell, who was at the house of William N. 
Pierce in 1848, and S. Williams, who had a saloon near the 
Clinton House. David Chase, who had a stand in a little 
building on Church Street, near the present position of the 
Y. M. C. A. rooms, stayed here for a longer time. He was 
a good musician and the organizer of a brass band. John J. 
Boynton bought out his business and occupied this building 
in 1856. It was afterwards moved to Sterling Road. Mr. 
Boynton followed the business for a short time in the Bur- 
dett & Fiske building, but went into Greene's brick block as 
soon as it was completed and carried on business there over 
thirty years. At first, he had a monopoly and if pictures 
could be published of all the negatives still in his possession, 
the community as it existed in war times and the years be- 
fore and after would be represented. Here are pictures of 
those who are now dignified citizens, taken in chubby infancy 
to satisfy a mother's pride. Here are pictures of slim young 
maidens in the first flush of womanly beaut}% which portly 



398 COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT. 

matrons of to-day would scarcely recognize as their own. 
Here are pictures of volunteers just about to leave their 
homes, many of them never to return. Here are pictures of 
our older citizens, taken that their children might have their 
portraits, when they had passed away. 

John J. Boynton was born in Holden in 1824. His father, 
Asa Boynton, was a farmer. The boy went to West Boyl- 
ston to work in a mill when he was eight years old. He 
worked sixteen hours a day. He came to Clintonville in 
October, 1847. Although he had never worked as a machin- 
ist, he had gained some slight acquaintance with the trade, 
and was employed by J. B. Parker at the Clinton Company's 
machine shop. He developed such aptitude in the trade 
that he was chosen to work with E. B. Bigelow in the de- 
velopment of his new inventions. He thus worked "under 
lock and key " for months. He wove the first Brussels car- 
peting on the new looms, and became overseer of the weav- 
ing room at the Bigelow Carpet Mill. Here he remained 
until 1856. He was in partnership with his son, L. W. Boyn- 
ton, about 1870, in the drug business where H. A. Burdett's 
store now is. His first wife died shortly after he came to 
Clintonville. He married again in 1849. He built his house 
at the corner of Church and Prescott Streets, in 1861. 

The old school-house, one story in height, vvhich origi- 
nally stood at the corner of Walnut and Church Streets, after 
having been moved between the churches and then to Union 
Street, at last found an abiding place on High Street between 
G. P. Smith's Block and the Clinton House. Levi H. Carter, 
who had bought the building, raised it another story in 1858. 
He lived here and kept a restaurant for many years. 

There were two other buildings, both of them private 
houses, on High Street, between Church and Union, in early 
times. The Kendall house was built by Dr. P. T. Kendall in 
1845. ^^ ^^^ "o^ been moved back from the street and is 
known as the Union House. There were two tenements in 



PRIVATE HOUSES ON HIGH STREET. 



399 



this building. Among those who lived here were J. B. At- 
kinson, George H. Kendall, Albert A. Jerauld, Charles G. 
Stevens, B. R. Smith, Dr. P. T. Kendall, H. C. Greeley and 
George B. VVooster. Back of the Kendall House was a 
large orchard. On the south, was another cottage built b)- 
Thomas Sawyer soon after the street was laid out. It was 
occupied by members of the Sawyer faniil)' until recent 
years. It is now used as a laundry. 

In 1850, High Street extended only from Water to Union. 
Between Water and Church Streets, private houses were 
more numerous than stores. The Prescott house on the 
west corner of High and Water Streets was then known as 
the Hoadley place. It was for some years occupied by J. C. 
Hoadley, engineer, and afterwards by his sister, Mrs. Pease. 
It is the oldest house on the street. On the east side of the 
street, was the private house of Levi Greene, a little to the 
south of the present watering trough. The house now in 
the corner was built on Main Street and removed hither in 
the sixties. N. A. Boynton built the house on the north 
corner of High and Prospect Streets, in 1847. ^^ was sold 
by him to Simeon Bowman and is now occupied by Charles 
Bowman, son of Simeon. The house now known as the 
Howell house was built and occupied by B. F. Howell. For 
more than two score years it has looked just as it does' today. 
We have already noticed the Wrigley or Otterson and the 
Wilson Morse cottages, which were built in the fifties. 

William N. Peirce, who had before had charge of the 
bleachery at the Counterpane Mill, built the house now 
known as the American House by 1848. T. H. Russell had 
a daguerrean saloon here in December of that year. S. P. 
Heywood, milliner and dressmaker, was here in 1849. I" 
i8i;o, W. N. Sleeper had a clothing store here. In February, 
1854, B. F. and J. F. Howell went into the grocery business 
in the basement. The upper part of the house was used for 
tenements. 

William N. Peirce was born November 9, 1824. He came 



400 COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT. 

to Clintonville in 1841, to work for his brother-in-law, 
Artemas H. Parker, in the bleachery of the Quilt Mill. In 
time, he became manager of this department. We have 
already had occasion to notice him as a grocer in Kendall's 
Block and as proprietor for seven }'ears of the Clinton 
House. In his later life, he was occupied in taking charge 
of his real estate. He bought of Alfred Knight the dwell- 
ing-house which stood south of the American House. In 
185 1, he had married Mary A. Dickinson. They occupied 
this dwelling-house until 1887, when it gave place to the 
Peirce Block. Perhaps, his greatest service to the town lies 
in this development of real estate, which belongs especially 
to later history. He was for a long time the treasurer and 
collector of the Congregationalist Parish, and the prosperous 
condition of the society is largely due to his financial ability. 
He died May 11, 1894. 

Alfred Knight, a painter from the North Village in Lan- 
caster, built a house where Peirce Block now stands, as 
early as 1846. When the present block was built, the house 
was moved into the back lot. Mr. Knight also had a little 
paint shop near his house. He was afterwards the depot- 
master for many years. He was also in the livery business 
with his brother in-law, Henry Butterfield, for a time. He 
was tovvn treasurer and collector during fourteen of the first 
sixteen years of the town's existence. He was also on the 
first board of assessors. He was a Unitarian. He spent his 
last years in Harvard. He died July 30, 1889, at the age of 
seventy-nine. 

H. N. Bigelow built the house now owned by Mrs. S. W. 
Tyler, in 1845. ^t was used as a parsonage by Rev. J. M. R. 
Eaton, and was then sold to Ezra Sawyer, then to Gilbert 
Greene and then to S. W. Tyler. There was an attractive 
garden in the corner where Tyler's Block now stands. 

Februar}' 13, 1847, Isaac J. Gibson took the paint shop 
formerly occupied by Mr. Knight. After he had worked in 
town as a painter for many }-ears, he went to Worcester and 



THE GIBSONS. 



401 



continued in the same business. He died in the summer of 
1893. While he was in Ch'nton, he lived in the long wooden 
tenement house which was erected at an early date in Ken- 
dall Court. His brother, Abram J. Gibson, was also a 
painter. He was for a little while the owner of a stage 
route. He built the brick block in Pond Court. Another 
brother of these men, Deacon Wm. H. Gibson, was a shoe- 
maker, whose house was on the west side of High Street. 
It is now owned by Gilman Laythe, whose father, Asa 
Laythe, lived in one tenement of this building while Mr. Gib- 
son lived in the other. Deacon Gibson had another brother 
named John, and a sister who married William Goodale. 
This William Goodale, a native of Marlboro, moved hither 
from Bolton. He built the Fletcher house by 1845. Here, 
he resided for many years. He was employed in the Quilt 
Mill. Deacon Gibson died from the effects of an accident 
at the railroad crossing near Four Ponds, in 1866. His 
second wife and his daughter, Mrs. Buss, were also killed 
here. 

June 5, 1847, J- ^V- Willard advertised the opening of a 
furniture store in rooms recently fitted up on High Street. 
Dartt's grocery store is now in the same building. Mr. Wil- 
lard was also an undertaker. December 8, 1849, he sold out 
to Benjamin Ring and was afterwards in Cleveland, O. This 
Mr. Ring had formerly been a Baptist clergyman, and he 
came hither from Liberty, Maine. His family lived in a 
tenement in the same building with his store. He continued 
his business in Clinton in a small way until October, 1857, 
when he went to New York state. He afterwards lived in 
Boston for sometime. He died in Hudson, May 8, 1875, at 
the home of his son, Sanford B. Ring. Elliott Jenkins after- 
wards had a store in this building. 

Elisha Brimhall was born March 25, 1825, in the town of 
Oakham, Mass. He was the only child of Jonas and Caro- 
line (Nye) Brimhall. In his early years, he worked on his 



402 



COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT. 



father's farm, but at the age of twenty, he began to learn the 
carpenter's trade of a neighbor. As we have already noted, 
he came to this community to work on the construction of 
the Clinton House. In 1852, we find him in the furniture 
business on School Street in the house which he had built 
there. This is now known as the Cummings house, and 
stands on its original site, south of Howards' stable. He 
soon bought the lot on the north-west corner of High and 
Church Streets, and began to erect his brick block there in 
the spring of 1857. The building, then the largest on High 
Street, was completed so that Josiah Alexander, the grocer, 
moved into the south store in February, 1858. Mr. Brim- 
hall took the north store for his furniture business. The 
west wing of the building was not constructed until 1869. 
The part now used as a drug store was built still later, and 
the Oxford House was remodelled from a dwelling at a quite 
recent date. The Courant Block, a large tenement block on 
High Street, and a residence on Prescott Street, also built 
by him, belonged to a period beyond the limits of this his- 
tory. Mr. Brimhall continued his furniture business until 
after the close of the war. He took Lucius Field as a part- 
ner in January, 1867, and subsequently sold out his share of 
the business to Henry O. Sawyer, in January, 1872. We shall 
see him as one of the selectmen during the war. He de- 
lighted especially to recall an interview which he had in 
Washington with President Lincoln, whereb}' he secured a 
credit of seventy names for the enlistment roll of Clinton 
and thus saved the town from a draft. In later years, he 
served the town as treasurer and as representative to the 
General Court. He was also a state senator for two years. 
He was a director of the Lancaster National Bank. He died 
April 9, 1887. 

Daniel Haverty erected the building where the Courant 
Block now stands. C. D. Holton had a jewelry store there 
in May, 1858. The property, as we have seen, finally passed 



CHURCH STREET. 



403 



into the hands of Ehsha Brimhall. Daniel Haverty also 
built the W. H. Haskell dvvellinc^-house on Chestnut Street. 
Oliver Greene's building is just below the Courant office, 
on its original site. He lived here, and for a time rented an 
upper tenement to A. A. Burditt. William A. Downing sold 
boots and shoes in the same building. 

In the little building, which stood where Fitch's Block 
now stands, N. A. Boynton had a tin and hardware store in 
1844. David Holder and his son, William P. Holder, had a 
shoe store here, and John Fry was in the same business in 
1853. This David Holder had been a citizen of the village 
many years before and had kept a boarding-house at the 
foot of Church Street in the days of the Lancaster Cotton 
Manufacturing Company. He then had a little shoe shop 
near by. When this company sold out, he went to Bolton. 
Hon. H. S. Nourse says of his work in Bolton: "On a cross 
road in the south part of Bolton stood a humble cottage 
with a little unpainted shop close by, wherein lived and delved 
a Quaker shoemaker by the name of Holder. He was no 
common cobbler. The exceeding excellence of his work 
had somehow gained the attention of the wealthier ladies of 
Lancaster and vicinity, and they soon would wear no work 
but his." Through Mrs. Cleveland and Mrs. Sampson 
Wilder, he sent his w^ork to lady friends of theirs in Cuba 
and Paris. He was descended from Christopher Holder, 
who came to Boston in 1656 in the Speedwell. He returned 
to Clintonville in the forties. His son, William P., also had 
charge of a stage route to Boston through Worcester in 1854. 
His son, Frank P., we have noted as a prominent carpet 
manufacturer. 

N. A. Boynton first came to town in 1844. Mr. Boynton 
soon erected the building now occupied by Charles Bowman 
and continued the sale of stoves and tinware there. C. J. 
Boynton was in partnership with him in 1848. After April 
2d of this year, N. A. Boynton continued the business alone 
yntil April, 1850. After he left Clinton, he went to New 



404 



COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT. 



York, where he established a large and successful business. 
He is the best known maker of furnaces in America. In 
1847, ^^^ built the house on the northeast corner of High and 
Prospect Streets, now occupied by Charles Bowman. Mr. 
Boynton was a leader in the Mechanics' Total Abstinence 
Society, while he lived in this community. 

Simeon Bowman bought Mr. Boynton's store when he 
left town. His sons, George and Charles Bowman, took 
charge of the business in 185 1. They dissolved partnership 
January 16, 1855, and Charles took the store, where he has 
since continued. Simeon Bowman was a native of Berlin, 
and came to Lancaster at the age of twenty-one. He took 
the blacksmith's shop since occupied by Stephen Turner. 
He afterwards became a pump-maker. In 1854, Warren and 
Bowman erected a building on School Street, which 
was afterwards known as the Clinton Bakery. This, in a 
changed form, is now owned by Dr. P. T. O'Brien. After a 
short time, Warren retired from the business and Bowman 
continued it for two years, and then sold to E. W. Howe. 
Robert Brooks followed here in 1859. Simeon Bowman 
went to California in 1856, and died there. Charles Bowman 
was born in Lancaster, October 23, 1828. He attended 
school for some time at the Lawrence Academy, in Groton. 
He has served the town most efficiently as chief engineer of 
the fire department and as selectman. He has been a lead- 
ing member of the Unitarian Society. 

Whitcomb & Holman had a livery stable where Andrews' 
stable on Church Street now stands, as early as 1848. Both 
Nelson Whitcomb and Charles Holman came from Bolton. 
The former was a selectman of Clinton, and in 1852, the Free 
Soil candidate for the legislature. This stable had been 
erected for Augustine F. Houghton some years before, and 
had been used by J. C. Stiles. Augustine F. Houghton was 
the son of John P., who did the teaming for the mills. This 
stable was advertised to be sold. May 19, 1849. ^^ passed 
through many hands before it came into the possession of 



CHURCH STREET. 



405 



the present owner, who has held it about a quarter of a cen- 
tury. 

Amos Blood, a painter, now of Sterling, erected the 
building on Church Street, that has since gone by his name, 
in the forties. A Mr. Nourse seems to have been a partial 
owner of this building. I. H. Marshall sold dry goods 
and groceries here previous to 1847, when he was followed 
by A. Macullar, who sold clothing. Samuel D. Brigham had 
a market in the Blood building, in 1847. Charles Ryan had 
a market here in 1852. J. B. and H. M. Dudley were grocers 
here in 1853. Mr. Cate, another grocer, subsequently had a 
store here. There has also been a bakery in this building. 

In the spring of 1847, ^- H. Peirce, a brother of W. N. 
Peircc, had a grocery and dry goods store in a house built 
by him on Church Street. This house is still standing, 
though in a greatly altered form, and is known as the Kelley 
house. The business did not succeed and was soon given 
up, to be renewed in 1849 for a short time. A. H. Woodhad 
a grocery and clothing store here for a while between these 
two dates. Miss E. Davis, milliner, had rooms here in 1847, 
and P. Howes, tailor, in 1848. William Bowman, a baker, 
had a shop in this Peirce Building in 1853. These are 
only a few of the many changing tenants of the building, 
which soon acquired the reputation of being a poor place 
for business, as no one succeeded here. 

The harness shop next to the east was built by William 
Stearns in 1846, and occupied by him for nearly forty years.* 
Otis Kendall had a paint shop in the upper story of this 
block, and was among our best known painters for about 
half a century. 

There was a Union store in a building constructed by the 
association, on Pleasant Street, near the point where Bur- 
dett Street meets it. After a short period of unsuccessful 

*A further account of William Stearns may be found by aid of the 
index. 



4o6 COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT. 

business the store was abandoned. In the summer of 1848, 
Charles H. Bridge had a stand here where he sold harnesses 
and trunks and kept a small variety store. This building 
was used for tenements and was afterwards burned in 1859. 
Mr. Bridge moved from the Union building to the brick 
building on the corner of Church and School Streets. B. F. 
Brown followed him here as a dealer in harnesses in Novem- 
ber, 1854. G. K. Houghton & Company opened a market 
here in 1858. This brick building was erected in the forties. 
L. Coburn, the negro barber, had his shop here in 1848. 
L. B. Rollins and F. R. Cook, furniture dealers, were among 
the many other occupants. The building was purchased by 
a Mrs. Churchill and descended to her daughter, Mrs. 
Horace Jewett, and was hence known as the Jewett building. 
We have already noted the Cumming's house, Howards' 
stables and the little building opposite the present Courant 
office. This completes the list of business buildings on 
Church and School Streets until recent times. 

Charles H. Chace, the son of Alanson,* was born Febru- 
ary 19, 1826, and has always lived in this community. He 
received his schooling in District No. 11. He married Car- 
oline M. Ball of Boylston, April 11, 1850. He followed his 
father in the family mansion on Prescott Street. He took 
contracts for making cellars in the early fifties. In 1858, he 
went into business with William H. Haskell in the store at 
the corner of High and Union Streets, which had been left 
vacant by Josiah Alexander, under the firm name of C. H. 
Chace & Co. They kept the usual variety found in a coun- 
try store, and also sold meat after the first year. He erected 
the store building on Mechanic Street in 1861. There was a 
small structure on this lot when he bought it. When Mr. 
Chace and Mr. Haskell separated at the end of three years, 
Mr. Chace took the groceries, and later, the dry goods also. 

*See Chace family by aid of index. 



EAST VILLAGE. 407 

Mr. Chace continued business in his new building for many 
years. He has been a member of the Baptist Society. He 
has served the town as selectman for three years. 

William H. Haskell was born in Rochester, Mass., Octo- 
ber 20, 1824. He was for a time a clerk in a country store 
in North Abington. He came to Clinton in 1850, to work 
for David Haskell, his brother, who was seven years older 
than he, and who alread)' had a store on Mechanic Street on 
the lot afterwards occupied b}- the C. H. Chace building. 
He soon became his partner. September 5, 1854, David 
Haskell was the victim of a dreadful accident. He was 
returning some "patent oil" to a barrel when it took fire 
from a lantern. The barrel exploded, and the cellar was 
filled with flame. Mr. Haskell was so badly burned that he 
died the following day. The home of David Haskell was on 
Water Street at the brick house built by Asahel Harris. F'or 
some over three years, W. H. Haskell continued business 
alone, but in August, 1858, he advertised groceries and dry 
goods at the old stand in partnership with D. W. Kilburn. 
In the same year, C. H. Chace, his brother-in-law, became 
his partner, but in August, 1861, the partnership was dis- 
solved, and Mr. Chace kept on with the groceries and Mr. 
Haskell with the dry goods. Haskell finally sold out the 
whole business to Chace. He had a store for a little while 
in the rear of his residence on Chestnut Street. He was, 
during the closing years of the war, in the grocery business 
in the basement of Burdett and Fiske's Block on the corner 
of High and Union Streets. In 1868, he erected the block 
at the corner of Union and Walnut Streets. Here, he con- 
tinued business until his death, December 2, 1878. He was 
a leading member of the Congregational Society of the town. 

Asaph R. Marshall, a native of Hillsboro, N. H., had a 
store of dry goods in the "Big Boarding-House." George 
B. Wooster, who had worked in the Lancaster Mills and had 
served as clerk to A. R. Marshall, bought him out, and Mr. 
Marshall moved to Worcester. There, he became deacon of 



4o8 COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT. 

the Old South Church. He served as a representative to the 
General Court in 1881 and 1882. He died January 30, 1884. 
George B. Wooster followed H. C. Greeley at Kendall's 
Block. He went to the West a few years later. He had a 
store in Nebraska at the time of his death in 1890.* 



*The comparative amount of stock carried by our merchants in the 
fifties can be judged from the following gleanings from the assessors' 
lists of 1857: — 

Dry Goods— Smith & Greeley, $6,500 ; O. A. Smith, $6,500 ; A. R. 
Marshall, $3,500; George H. Kendall, $1,500. 

Dry Goods and Groceries — William H. Haskell, $3,200. 

Groceries — Josiah Alexander, $1,800; William N. Peircc, $1,500; Pro- 
tective Union, Div. 49, $1,500. 

Hardware — Charles Bowman, $4,000. 

Jewelry — Gilbert Greene, $2,000; C. D. Holton, $600. 

Clothing — C. W. Field, $1,500; A. A. Jerauld, $900; James Greenwood, 



Boots and Shoes — Waldo Winter, $1,000; L. D. Lyon, $1,000; H. T. 
Goodale, $450. 

Furniture — Elisha Brimhall, $1,500; Benjamin Ring, $200. 

Drugs — A. A. Burditt, $1,500. 

Books and Stationery — Eliphas Ballard, $1,000. 

Bakery Stock — E. W. Howe, $500. 

The following statistics for May, 1865, may enable us to get a general 
view of the life of our town at that time: Population, 4,021; natives of 
the United States 2,637, of Ireland 967, of Scotland 172, of Germany 97, 
of England 89, of France 5, of Spain 2, of Canada, New Brunswick and 
Nova Scotia, 50. Mill operatives, 666; laborers, 315; machinists, 56; 
farmers, 54; comb-makers, 40; house servants, 36; carpenters, 35; clerks, 
28; shoe-makers, 27; teachers, 20; merchants, 15; painters, 15; students 
(over seventeen years old), 13; manufacturers, 13; grocers, 13; masons, 
12; milliners, 12; boarding-housekeepers, 11; blacksmiths, 10; founders, 
7; clothiers and tailors, 7; book-keepers, 7; engineers, 6; dentists, 6; 
saloon-keepers, 6; clergymen, 5; physicians, 5; dress and cloak-makers, 7. 



CHAPTER XXV. 
LIBRARY AND PRESS. 

April 14, 1846, a petition was made to a justice of peace 
by H. N. Bigelow, J. R. Stewart, L. F. Bancroft, J. B. Parker, 
Sanborn Worthen, A. S. Carleton and G. H. Kendall, repre- 
senting that those gentlemen were "desirous of forming an 
association for the purpose of mutual improvement and for 
the further purpose of extending improvement to and 
throughout the village in which they reside, and the neigh- 
borhood with which they are more immediately connected, 
by sustaining courses of lectures upon the sciences and their 
connection with the mechanical arts, by sustaining, if their 
means shall allow it, a school for scientific instruction and 
education in those branches more immediately connected 
with their employment, and the collection of a library, a 
reading room and a repository of models and drawings of 
useful machines and mechanical inventions." In answer to 
this petition, a warrant was issued for a meeting for the pur- 
pose of organizing an association with these ends in view. 
At this meeting, held April 29th, J. G. Carter of Lancaster 
Center, J. C. Hoadley, J. B. Parker, J. D. Otterson and A. S. 
Carleton were chosen as a committee to draft a constitution 
and to report May 20th. 

The preamble of the constitution presented and adopted 
offers a broader basis of organization than was suggested in 
the petition, namely: " In order to promote our mutual 
improvement in literature, science and the mechanical arts; 
— to diffuse a taste for literary, scientific and mechanical 



410 LIBRARY. 

pursuits in the community in which we reside; — and to de- 
velop the social, moral and intellectual natures with which 
we are endowed b}- one Creator." 

The society took the name "The Bigelow Mechanics' 
Institute in Clintonville." E. B. Bigelow, in whose honor 
this name had been assumed, in addition to other donations, 
gave to the society as a recognition of his esteem, the valu- 
able air pump, now used by the Clinton High School, and two 
hundred dollars to be used for the good of the Institute. 

A fee of five dollars was charged for membership, and 
some forty men joined. The management of the affairs of 
the Institute during the first year was placed in the hands 
of twelve trustees. The first board of trustees was consti- 
tuted as follows: W. T. Merrifield, president; H. N. Bige- 
low, J. B. Parker, Vice-Presidents; A. S. Carleton, Treasurer; 
J. C. Hoadley, Corresponding Secretary; C. B. Kendall, Re- 
cording Secretary; J. R. Stewart, Levi Greene, C. W. Wor- 
cester, Ezra Sawyer, J. D. Otterson, J. G. Carter. In 1847, 
C. G. Stevens and William Eaton were made trustees, and 
on the following year, Sidney Harris, H. A. Pollard, J. W. 
Willard and Charles Ryan. H. N. Bigelow was president 
for 1847-48. It was intended that the society should be a 
legal corporation, but the failure to administer the oath to 
the clerk after the first year destroyed the legality of all 
the acts as a corporation. 

The first lecture was given before the Institute by J. G. 
Carter of Lancaster, October i, 1846. This was followed 
by lectures once in two weeks throughout the winter. These 
lectures were partly by home talent and partly by speakers 
from the neighboring towns and cities. The home lecturers 
were: J. C. Hoadley, C. G. Stevens and Dr. G. M. Morse. 
On alternate weeks, there were debates conducted by the 
members of the Institute. 

A small circulating library was immediately purchased, 
and additions were made from time to time, according to 
the funds of the Institute or the liberality of donors. A 



CIRCULATING LIBRARY. 4II 

reading room was opened June 5, 1847, '" ^^^^ southeast room 
on the second floor of the Kendall Building. C. G. Stevens, 
who had an office in the building, acted as the first librarian. 
This reading room was not frequented by ladies or children, 
and it really became a sort of club room for the members of 
the Institute, who gathered there to read and talk. Any 
resident of Lancaster, not a member of the Institute, could 
have the privileges of the reading room b}- paying three 
dollars per }'ear. Later, the library was moved to the second 
floor of A. P. Burdett's Block. The interest in the lectures 
and debates evidently declined after the first }'ear, and the 
energy the society possessed was given mainly to the read- 
ing room and library. 

On account of the desire of the members of the Institute 
to control its affairs directly, rather than through a board of 
trustees, at a meeting held May 10, 1849, ^he constitution 
was so changed as to accomplish this end. Thus, new life 
was infused into the organization. There was a course of 
twelve lectures during the winter of 1847-48, with an average 
attendance of somewhat over one hundred. Among the 
names of the lecturers for the following year, we find those 
of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Horace Greeley, Edwin P. Whip- 
ple and Henry D. Thoreau. Similar courses of lectures 
were held during the two succeeding years, and the number 
attending was sometimes as large as four hundred. G. N. 
Bigelow was president of the society from 1849 to 1852, and 
then J. T. Dame was chosen. In 1850, there were three 
hundred and eighty books in the library; in 1852, there were 
six hundred and sixty-seven. The location was changed 
from the Kendall Block to the A. P. Burdett building. 

It was found desirable in 1852, to change the Institute into 
a legal corporation. To do this to advantage a complete re- 
organization seemed necessary. June 19th, a meeting was 
held for the organization of a society in the form of a cor- 
poration "for mutual improvement and the promotion of 
education." This corporation took the name of "The Bige- 



412 LIBRARY. 

low Library Association." At a meeting of the Bigelow 
Mechanics' Institute, held June 30, 1852, it was voted to 
transfer all the property of the Institute to the Association. 

The stock of the corporation had a par value of ten dol- 
lars. Most of the stock-holders had a single share, but a 
few held as many as twenty. Before the end of the first 
year, one hundred and twenty-two shares were taken, and at 
the close of the next year, one hundred and fifty-nine were 
on the books. Franklin Forbes was first chosen presi- 
dent, an of^ce which he continued to hold until the Associa- 
tion was dissolved. 

It was voted at this first meeting, June 19th, to buy "a lot 
of land at a cost not exceeding one thousand dollars, and to 
build thereon at a cost not exceeding three thousand, a build- 
ing adapted to the purposes of the Association, and for rent- 
ing." The land on Union Street at the intersection of Wal- 
nut Street, was bought. September 30th, the Association 
added seven hundred dollars to the amount hitherto appro- 
priated for the building. Jonas E. Howe was engaged to 
erect it. 

E. B. Bigelow offered to "give to the Bigelow Library 
Association for the enlargement of its librar}' one hundred 
dollars every half year for the next five years," if "the As- 
sociation raise and appropriate to the same object a like sum 
at each respective time of payment." This proposition was 
gratefully accepted. Through this gift, two thousand dol- 
lars worth of books were added to the library within five 
years and the number of volumes was quadrupled. 

Persons not stock-holders were allowed to use the library 
for an annual fee of two dollars. As the reading room of 
the Institute had been little patronized in its later years, it 
was not continued by the Association. 

The new building was ready for occupancy during the 
summer of 1853. The lower floor on the west side was 
rented for the post-ofifice, and rooms were rented to C. G. 
Stevens, H. N. Bigelow and H. Kellogg. Later, the base- 



ENTERTAINMENTS. 



413 



ment was finished off and rented to the Town of Clinton for 
an armory. The net income from the building paid a good 
interest on its cost. Among the most prominent of those 
who had rooms in the building at a later time were J. R. and 
H. S. Robinson, J. Thissell, Bay State Shirt Company and 
Mary O'Keefe. The first catalogue, published just after the 
books were moved to the new building, shows that there 
were thirteen hundred and twenty-one volumes in the library. 
Isaac Baldwin, the assistant of C. G. Stevens, was the first 
librarian here, and it was doubtless prepared by him, work- 
ing under the direction of Mr. Forbes. In 1855, Mr. Bald- 
win was succeeded by A. E. Bigelow. He was followed in 
the same year by J. H. Vose who served until May 2, 1857, 
when G. W. Weeks was chosen. He served for ten years. 
Excellent courses of lectures were provided in the winter of 
1852 and 1853 and on the following year, but they were not 
pecuniarily successful and, when it was found that the course 
planned for 1855 and 1856 would not be supported, it was 
given up. 

A levee was held January 11, 1855, which proved more 
lucrative. It was made in part an exhibition of home indus- 
tries. The recently completed mill of the Bigelow Carpet 
Company, in which it was held, was abundantly decorated 
with Wilton and Brussels carpeting, the plaids and coach- 
lace of the Clinton Company, the ginghams of Lancaster 
Mills and the quilts of the Lancaster Quilt Company. The 
comb shop of Sidney Harris and the carpet bag factory of 
J. W. Caldwell were also represented. This levee was re- 
peated January 13, and a similar one was held in March of 
the following year. 

By the year i860, the circulation of the library had in- 
creased to four thousand, while the number of volumes on 
the shelves was three thousand three hundred and eleven, a 
gain of over three hundred per year. A catalogue was pre- 
pared during this year by the librarian, G. W. Weeks. It 
was published early in 1861. It is a volume of one hundred 



414 PRESS. 

and sixty pages. It is characterized by great accuracy, and 
shows that the management of the library was much more 
efficient than was common in those days. 

A collection of minerals was begun in 1862, and in a few 
years there were a thousand varieties. Collections bearing 
on local history were also made by the librarian. 

After the resignation of Mr. Weeks in 1867, H. H. 
Waters and G. W. Morse served as librarians for a short 
time each. January 2, 1869, J. H. Hunt was elected, and he 
continued to serve until 1873. 

The growth of the library was not as great during the 
twelve years from 1861 to 1873, as it had been in the pre- 
ceding ten years, for in 1873 there were only four thousand 
four hundred and eight volumes on the shelves, a gain of 
less than a hundred per year. 

At a meeting held August 4, 1873, a committee which 
had been appointed "to consider the donating of the books 
and other property of the library to the Town of Clinton," 
reported: "That, whereas the establishment of the Bigelow 
Library Association was originally intended for the good of 
the people at large, and whereas, the formation of the Free 
Public Library will more effectually secure the design of the 
Association. The committee recommend to the stock hold- 
ers of the Association to grant to the Town of Clinton all 
the books, pamphlets and periodicals, and all articles of 
natural history belonging to the Association." This dona- 
tion was made and accepted on certain conditions, and the 
Bigelow Free Public Library was established. 

The Bigelow Library Association proved not only an 
educational blessing, but a business success, for its shares 
paid a final dividend of forty-seven dollars. It was not until 
1877, that, after all settlements had been completed, the Bige- 
low Library Association which had for so many years been 
the center of culture for the community, ceased to exist. 

The first number of the Lancaster Courant was published 



ELIPHAS BALLARD. 



415 



July 4, 1846, by Eliphas Ballard and F. C. Messenprer. It 
was printed in the north side of a one-story building which 
has been raised in its old location on the east side of High 
Street and now forms the upper part of C. W. Field's build- 
ing. The editorial work was done by Mr. Messenger, while 
Mr. Ballard was printer and publisher. They also carried 
on a book, medicine and stationery business. The price of 
the Courant was one dollar and fifty cents per year. The 
Courant contained at first four pages of five columns each. 
For many years, the amount of local news was very small. 
Information from Europe was considered of greater impor- 
tance than that from High Street. A story, often continued, 
selected miscellanies, general news of the country and the 
world, long-winded discussions of obstruse topics by local 
writers, with occasional items about events at home, made up 
the reading matter of the paper. To one who is studying 
the history of the time, the advertisements and the lists of 
marriages and deaths are the chief sources of information. 
During that period of great development in the community, 
from the beginning of publication to 1850, there is scarcely 
a word concerning any of the new buildings that were being 
erected, and events, to which columns would now be de- 
voted, were entirely unnoticed. 

Mr. Ballard was a native of Lancaster. His father's 
home was in the Deer's-Horns District. He worked as a 
printer for about ten years in Boston, and was thirty years 
old when he published the first number of the Courant. His 
pastor. Rev. L. J. Livermore, of the Unitarian Church, said 
of him: " He was kind, almost feminine in the gentleness 
of his disposition. * * * I never saw his temper ruffled, al- 
though he had his share of the world's vexations, perhaps, * * 
he had too little of the rugged, strong, selfish nature to 
make a successful business man, * * * quiet, reserved, un- 
pretending, a lover of peace and concord, * * * trying to 
meet his obligations and make others happ}% even as he 
himself enjoyed life." 



4i6 PRESS. 

The Courant, which up to July 6, 1S50, had been called 
the Lancaster Courant, on that date took for its title, Satur- 
day Courant. It was at this time enlarged by the addition 
of a sixth column. F. C. Messenger made his valedictory 
in the Courant of June 28, 185 1, after he had been editor five 
years. He went to Maine, where he became editor and pub- 
lisher of the Camden Advertiser. In March, 1859, he was 
editor of the Oshkosh Herald. Mr. Ballard became the sole 
printer and publisher, and Edwin Bynner the editor. Mr. 
Bynner came to town originally as a painter. He had been 
station agent during the previous year, and a dealer in brick 
and lime. He had also been an auctioneer since February, 
185 1. These forms of business he still united with his 
editorial duties. 

May 7, 1853, Mr. Bynner went into partnership with Bal- 
lard as publishers. The Courant moved to the south store 
under Clinton Hall, in October, 1853. May 13, 1854, Mr. 
Bynner withdrew from partnership in publishing on account 
of ill health, but still continued his editorial duties. On 
July 1st, he withdrew from these also. In addition to ill 
health, he assigned as a reason for this withdrawal the fact 
that the income from the paper furnished an inadequate sup- 
port for his family. Although the circulation had doubled 
during the three }'ears of his editorship, yet only two hund- 
red copies were taken in town. No wonder he said: "The 
wolf prowls too near the editorial chair to admit of any 
longer occupancy of its 'unstuffed' space." 

Mr. B}'nner was a man of literary ability, although he 
was at times more fluent than a severe taste might demand. 
He was a man of vivid imagination, keen wit, sound judg- 
ment, honest fearlessness and a high ideal of his editorial 
position. In local affairs, his influence was always used to 
restrain lawlessness and to promote enterprise. His frequent 
editorials on such public needs as fire engines, railroads and 
gas works, on beautifying the Common and planting trees 
along the streets, and especially on liberality in matters of 



EDITORIAL WORKERS. 



417 



education by means of schools, books and the lecture sys- 
tem, must have had an important influence in the develop- 
ment of the community. In dealing with the affairs of the 
state and nation, especially with the different phases of the 
anti-slavery movement, his editorials had a breadth of vision 
and a fervor of eloquence seldom found in a country news- 
paper. When he left Clinton, he went to Worcester, where 
he acted as freight agent. In 1858, he became agent of the 
Commercial Steamboat Company and Worcester and Provi- 
dence Railroad Company. His versatile genius often found 
expression in newspaper literature, and he was well known as 
a public speaker. If he had devoted himself entirely to let- 
ters he might doubtless have gained as great a reputation as 
that held by his son, Edwin Lassiter Bynner, the author of 
Agnes Surriage. 

John P. Davis, who had for some time been connected 
with "the business of the paper," undertook the editorship 
after Mr. Bynner withdrew. His name as editor disappears 
without any formal statement, December 9, 1854. Henry 
Bowman became a partner of Mr. Ballard, October 2, 1854, 
and remained until May 5, 1855. Rev. L. J. Livermore of 
the Unitarian Church, having done the editorial work of the 
paper for some weeks previously, assumed formal connection 
with the paper, January 6, 1855. September 5, 1857, this 
connection was severed. During his editorship the paper, 
though full of noble sentiment, dealt little with matters of 
local interest. 

For nearly two years, no name appeared at the head of 
the editorial column of the Courant, but the keen human 
interest and the trenchant wit of its leading articles would 
have given evidence of the work of Rev. C. M. Bowers, even 
if his editorship had not been an open secret. At no time 
before the Civil War are we able to get more closely at the 
life of the community through the paper than in those " hard 
times" of 1857-8, when he did so much to turn the workless 
people of Clinton from their despondency to profitable self- 



4i8 PRESS. 

improvement, and to cheer their hours of idleness. The 
following may be taken as a sample of his wit: A corre- 
spondent had criticised one of his articles on the ways to 
relieve the distress of the community, and said, among other 
things, that it would be well for the editor to give up his 
horse and ride upon an ass, as his Master did. Mr. Bowers 
replied: "Your last paragraph is capital; we concede to all 
its suggestions. We are willing to share with the people, 
and we should decidedly enjoy riding as you hint; so if you 
will trot up, ready saddled, to our house at half-past ten to- 
morrow, we will prove our readiness to imitate the Master 
by using an ass, in the sight of all the people." 

Rev. C. M. Bowers was succeeded by J. J. Allen, May 7, 
1859, but Mr. Allen remained only until the 20th of August. 
For the next two and a half years, Mr. Ballard managed the 
paper by himself, with what volunteer help he could get 
from the citizens of the town. For the few months follow- 
ing January 7, i860, these unpaid helpers were recognized as 
editors, under the title, "An Association of Gentlemen." 
After this, Mr. Ballard seems to have had little assistance. 

During the opening year of the Civil War, although the 
Courant suffered severely from the lack of an editorial head 
who could devote his full time to it, yet, even under these 
circumstances, the paper could not fail to give voice in some 
degree to the patriotic enthusiasm of the people, and much 
of the news was of such evident importance that it almost 
published itself. The letters from the Clinton soldiers, es- 
pecially those from William J. Coulter, added much to the 
value of the sheet. 

Horatio E. Turner, who had for some time previously 
added many editorial duties to his work as a printer, was for- 
mally acknowledged as editor March 22, 1862, but he enlisted 
in August of the same year. During the next five months, 
although Wellington E. Parkhurst's name nowheres appears 
in the Courant's columns, we know that he was receiving his 
initiation into the editorial duties which he was afterwards 



THE COMFOSITORS. 



419 



to perform so abl)' for so man)' years. October 31, 1862, the 
CoLirant was nominally sold to VV. A. Farnsworth, but Mr. 
Ballard really controlled the paper until, after an existence 
of sixteen and a half years, it was stopped December 1 3, 1 862, 
on account of the high price of stock. 

Although Eliphas Ballard ceased publishing the Courant 
in 1862, yet he continued the book and stationery business 
here until 1869, when he removed to Gardner and engaged 
in the clothing business with A. A. Jerauld, Junior. In later 
times, he continued the business with his son. He was also 
connected with the Gardner News in its earlier years. Dur- 
ing the twenty-three years he was in our community, he in 
his quiet way exerted a great power for good upon the peo- 
ple in his private capacity. As the publisher and, at times, 
the editor of the Courant, his influence in moulding the opin- 
ion of the growing community was unsurpassed by any 
clergyman or teacher. His sweet reasonableness never sanc- 
tioned anything that was rash or base, while local enterprise 
and national patriotism always found inspiration and encour- 
agement. Thus, the Courant in its earlier days had the same 
characteristics that it has displayed in later times, except 
that it has grown in virile force as it has increased in age. 

The young m^n who worked in the Courant office during 
these earlier years of publication have a remarkable war 
record. They enlisted, one after another, until every man 
who had worked there, outside of Mr. Ballard and the regu- 
lar editors, was in the service of his country. Henry Bow- 
man, Henry Greenwood, William J. Coulter, James A. Bonney 
and James P. Chenery were in the Light Guard; Daniel A. 
White was in the Twenty-fifth, Horatio E. Turner was in the 
Thirty-fourth, Robert Orr in the Fifty-third. W. B. Whitte- 
more entered the navy. 

Of Bowman and Greenwood we have already had occa- 
sion to speak. James P. Chenery was the son of Seth Chen- 
ery, who came from West Boylston and worked in the Parker 
Machine Shop. He learned his trade in the Courant office, 



420 



PRESS. 



He, and also his brother, Frank A. Chenery, gave their lives 
for their country. James A. Bonney, a native of Sterling, 
was killed on the field of battle. Horatio E. Turner died in 
Andersonville. Daniel A. White is a native of Marlboro, N. 
H., born August 12, 1836. He attended the Clinton High 
School. He entered the office as an apprentice in 1852. He 
was a musician and a member of our first brass band, and 
leader of the second. We have alread}' spoken of his con- 
nection with the hoop skirt business and his partnership with 
S. W. Tyler in the grocery business. He has been one of 
our leading grocers since the Civil War. Robert Orr, who 
was born in Paisley, Scotland, and had come to this country 
in the forties, began to work in the office in the early fifties. 
He went away for a while, but returned when so many of the 
compositors entered the Fifteenth. Since the war he has 
worked in the Worsted Mill, in the stationery and book 
business, and in the Courant office. 

William J. Coulter was born in Troy, N. Y., February 13, 
1841. He learned his trade in the office of the Washington 
County Post, published in Cambridge, N. Y. Later, he 
worked on the Albany Morning Express. He came to Clin- 
ton in i860, to work in the Courant office. During the sum- 
mer of 1865, shortly after his return from Service, he bought 
out the printing business of Eliphas Ballard. Mr. Ballard 
had previously attempted to get enough subscriptions to 
justify him in starting the paper again, but had not been able 
to secure the four hundred names which he deemed requi- 
site. When he learned that Mr. Coulter was about to 
begin re-publication, he told him that he needed a guardian. 
The new series was called the Clinton Courant, and the first 
issue was September 30, 1865. Wellington E. Parkhurst, was 
the editor.* He was born in Framingham, January 19, 1831;. 
He was educated in the public schools and Framingham 
Academy. He was a paymaster of the Lancaster Quilt 

* For an account of his father, see pages 347-8. 



WELLINGTON E. PARKHURST. 421 

Com pail)', 1856-9. He worked for two years in the Clinton 
Savings Bank. He has taught school. He has been on the 
editorial staff of the Worcester Spy. The later historian will 
tell of services rendered by Mr. Parkhurst to the Congrega- 
tional Societ}', to the town, as clerk, assessor, treasurer, direc- 
tor of the library and member of school committee; and to 
the state, as an influential member of the legislature. The 
Clinton Courant, the best of country papers, will remain a 
lasting memorial of his wit, his sound sense and his devotion 
to public good. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 
LAWYERS, PHYSICIANS, AND DENTISTS. 

Charles Godfrey Stevens was born in Claremont, N. 
H., September i6, 1821. His ancestors had lived here for 
several generations. His grandfather, Josiah Stevens, had 
fought as ensign in the battle of Bennington. After the 
Revolution, he became the colonel of his regiment. Godfrey 
Stevens, the father of Charles G., was a merchant. He was 
a member of the national convention which nominated Har- 
rison for the presidency. He was prominent as a speaker in 
the stirring campaign that followed. Paran Stevens, one of 
the uncles of our townsman, was noted as a hotel owner and 
proprietor. Among the hotels controlled by him were the 
Revere and Tremont Houses in Boston, and the Fifth Ave- 
nue Hotel of New York and the Battle House of Mobile. 

Charles G. Stevens fitted for college at Meriden, N. H. 
The school here was one of those academies which, before 
the days of high schools, stood between the elementary dis- 
trict schools and the college. He entered Washington Col- 
lege at Hartford, Ct. This was an Episcopal institution, and 
the religious convictions of his parents led to the choice of 
this college. After he had been here about two years, he 
had a severe sickness, on account of which he was obliged 
to give up his studies for a time. When he recovered, he 
entered Dartmouth where he graduated in 1840. He was 
one of the originators of the custom of senior banquets, 
which is still kept up at Dartmouth. 

On account of the death of his father, he was obliged to 



CHARLES GODFREY STEVENS. 423 

give up his course at the law school soon after he had en- 
tered. He studied at Claremont in the office of George B. 
Upham, and afterwards in that of Alpheus F. Snow, who was 
Upham's successor. From Claremont, he went to Boston, 
where he continued his studies and then opened an office. 
He came to Clintonville in 1846. On September 29th of the 
same year, he married Laura Russell. The family lived for 
four years in the Kendall cottage on High Street. In 1851, 
Mr. Stevens built his present residence on the corner of 
Chestnut and Church Streets, which was, at the time of build- 
ing, considered to be a great distance from the center of 
business. Mr. Stevens has one son and one daughter now 
living. 

His office was in the southwest corner of Kendall Block. 
In this office, many schemes for the development of the new 
community were devised. Mr. Stevens acted as counsel for 
the corporations, and H. N. Bigelow was accustomed to con- 
sult with him on all matters relating to the good of the village 
which was growing up around the mills. When the library 
and reading room of the Bigelow Mechanics' Institute was 
opened, Mr. Stevens was in charge of the room, as it adjoined 
his office. Isaac Baldwin studied with him, and afterwards, 
acted for a time as his partner. He also had charge of the 
library for some time. He went from here to Clinton, Iowa, 
where he has been ver\' successful in his profession, and has 
been mayor of the city An insurance business was united 
to the legal practice of Mr. Stevens. This in time developed 
to large proportions. His son. Colonel Edward G. Stevens, 
has been associated with his father in this department of his 
work. 

We have seen how Mr. Stevens was the moving spirit in 
the separation of Clinton from Lancaster and the organiza- 
tion of the new town.* Some one in Lancaster had asked 
when the division was first talked about: "Who is there in 

* See chapter on the incorporation of the town. 



424 



LAWYERS. 



Clintonville who is capable of running a town meeting?" 
While the first warrant of Lancaster, after the separation, was 
found defective, that of Clinton was all right, and the meet- 
ing was a model of parliamentary accuracy on account of the 
able management of Mr. Stevens, the moderator. This office 
of moderator of the annual town meeting was held by him 
for some forty years. In later times, when there has been 
confusion in regard to parliamentary practice or meetings 
have fallen under the control of a lawless element, our older 
citizens have said: "Such things never happened when Mr. 
Stevens was moderator." 

When the Clinton Savings Bank was organized in 1850, 
he was elected to the secretaryship, an ofifice which he has 
since held. In 1853, he was a member of the state conven- 
tion for the revision of the constitution. From 1856 to 1S62, 
he was a member of the school committee, during which 
time, with the exception of one year, he acted as secretary. 
We shall see how prominent a part he took in the campaign 
against Eli Thayer in i860. In 1862, he was elected to the 
Massachusetts senate. He was the first Clinton senator. He 
was appointed draft commissioner for Worcester County by 
Governor Andrew. The story of his patriotic labors during 
the war will be elsewhere told.* No one was more earnest 
than he to fill the quota of the town or felt greater pride in 
its grand record. He managed a large portion of the legal 
business connected with the pensions of the soldiers, and no 
expenditure of energy was too great which promised relief 
to the suffering families of those who had offered themselves 
as a sacrifice for their country. In this work, Mrs. Stevens 
was engaged no less zealously than her husband. As was 
fitting, he was chosen to give the welcome to the returning 
soldiers, and his eloquent utterances were worthy of that 
great occasion. 

In 1864, he organized the First National Bank of Clinton, 

* See chapters on Civil War. 



JOHN THOMPSON DAME. 425 

and was chosen the first president. He has held this office 
since that time. His position in connection with the banks 
has made him a most important factor in the business inter- 
ests of the town, of which the banks have been the center. 
In later years, he and his family have been among the organ- 
izers and most prominent members of the Episcopal Parish 
in Clinton. 

John Thompson Dame was born October 21, 18 16, at the 
little farming town of Orford, N. H. He was the son of 
Dr. John Dame and Abigail (Thompson) Dame. His father 
was a physician in the adjoining town of Lyme during his 
early childhood. While he was still a small bo}', both his 
parents died and he went to live with his cousin in Orford. 
This cousin looked after his interests with a parent's care. 
The boy was sent to the acadeni)' in Meriden, a village of 
Plainfield, N. H. Here, he first met Charles G. Stevens, who 
entered the school from Claremont, and an acquaintance 
was formed which was destined to extend over more than 
half a century, during which they were closely associated in 
their life work. Mr. Dame entered Dartmouth College, 
where he graduated in 1840. The excellence of his scholar- 
ship is attested by the fact that he was a member of the Phi 
Beta Kappa Society. 

He began his law studies with Judge Leonard Wilcox of 
Orford. The second year, he passed at the Harvard Law 
School. He completed his preparatory legal studies with 
Hon. Sidney Bartlett of Boston. He was admitted to the 
bar in the spring of 1843. He soon opened an office in 
Marlboro. During the year of his residence in that town, in 
addition to such practice as fell to the lot of the new fledged 
lawyer, he taught at times in the academy. 

In 1844, he removed to Lancaster. June 11, 1845, he 
married Eliza Elmira Reeves of Wayland. Their home was 
in the house of Mr. Rand, opposite the hotel. During the 
five years of his residence in Lancaster, he not only prac- 
ticed law, but he was also acting postmaster, and, for the 
last two years, he was police magistrate. 



426 LAWYERS. 

When Clinton was incorporated, foreseeing its growth, he 
wisely decided to cast his fortunes with the new community, 
and moved hither April i, 1850. He built the house on 
Chestnut Street now occupied by Charles L. Swan. After 
living here for some years, he bought the estate on Water 
Street which is still in the possession of his heirs. The cul- 
tivation of the ample grounds of this estate was one of the 
chief pleasures of his life. He delighted in out-door work, 
in watching the development of plants and the maturing of 
fruits. He found joy, too, in sharing with his neighbors the 
products of his orchard and garden. Mr. Dame had two 
sons and four daughters. Mr. Dame's home was always a 
center of culture. Mr. Dame was a member of the Con- 
gregationalist Society and one of its most reliable supporters. 

Mr. Dame was police magistrate in Clinton from 1850 
until he was commissioned a trial justice under the law of 
1858. The latter ofifice he held until the close of 1863. In 
speaking of his work in these offices, Mr. Stevens says that 
Mr. Dame's decisions were so just that he cannot recall any 
instance of an appeal from his judgment as a magistrate. 
As a lawyer, he was especially esteemed for "his ability as 
an adviser," for "his familiarity with the statutes pertaining 
to real estate and conveyancing," for "his spotless integrity 
and self-less devotion to duty." 

Resolutions which were adopted by his associates at the 
bar soon after his death state: "As magistrate and practi- 
tioner, he brought to the discharge of all his duties an intel- 
ligent and comprehensive knowledge of the law, a well 
trained, vigorous mind, habits of untiring industry and a 
strong love of justice which always distinguish the impartial 
judge and the successful, upright lawyer. He had a keen 
sense of the obligations of his profession to the communityi 
and used his influence and opportunities as a councillor to 
discourage strife and promote the peaceful settlement of 
controversies between contending parties. While always 
true to client and faithful and painstaking in his client's 



JOHN THOMPSON DAME. 427 

cause, he was equall)- lo}'al to the court, and in all his tran- 
sactions as a lawyer kept both the letter and spirit of his 
attorney's oath." 

Mr. Dame never had any partner until his son, Walter R. 
Dame, was associated with him in 1886. Among the stu- 
dents who studied with him, may be mentioned L. D. War- 
ner of Harvard, who went to Richmond, Virginia, before the 
war and has since filled various important positions there. 
A large insurance business was carried on by Mr. Dame. 
Money was loaned through him and real estate transfers 
were consummated. Thus, his ofifice was always a busy 
place. This was at first located in G. P. Smith's Block, and 
after 1857, he was in Greene's Block, first in the old brick 
building and later in the new. 

In politics, Mr. Dame was a Democrat of the old school. 
The fundamental element of his political creed was, that the 
most perfect freedom for the individual comes from the 
localization of government, and he feared the results from 
the centralizing tendencies of his time. He often received 
the vote of members of both parties for local office, for 
everyone knew that he would strive to fill any position to 
which he might be elected for the best interests of the town 
and without regard to part}' associations. It is worthy of 
note, that, although he was a Democrat, yet it was he who 
made the motion under which Clinton appropriated mone)' 
for the relief of the families of those who had enlisted for the 
defense of the government. He received commissions as 
postmaster of Clinton from Franklin Pierce and James 
Buchanan, and filled that office from September 7, 1853, to 
April 6, 1861. Immediately upon entering upon his duties, 
he removed the office from Kendall's Block to the Library 
Building on Union Street. His administration was progres- 
sive and efficient. Among his clerks were Dexter Fisher, 
James Powers, George W. Moore, L. D. Warner and Ezra 
Sawyer. 

Mr. Dame always took the deepest interest in town busi- 



428 LAWYERS. 

ness. No voice was heard more frequentl}' in town meetings. 
He was conservative in his tendencies and so sternly op- 
posed to the waste of public funds that he was sometimes 
spoken of as "the watch dog of the public treasury." In 
some directions, such for instance as the cause of education, 
he believed in the most liberal appropriations and here, we 
come upon the most important service he rendered the 
town in any official capacity, his work as a member of the 
school committee. He was a member of the board for 
seventeen years and was chairman for fourteen years. Most 
of this service comes after the period covered by this his- 
tory. The school reports prepared under the direction of 
Mr. Dame make a bulky volume and must be consulted by 
any who would form an adequate idea of his efficient and 
unremitting labors for the educational interests of the com- 
munity. He also served in his later life, for eight years from 
1884, as a member of the Board of Directors of the Bige- 
low Free Public Library. From 1888 to 1892, he was chair- 
man of the board. He prepared a history of Clinton for the 
Worcester County History published in 1879, by C. F. Jewett 
& Company. 

After a prolonged illness, he died July 3, 1894. Thus 
closed a life fraught with blessing to the town, both in deed 
and example. A life of service both through private and 
public channels, a life of high ideals in education, of un- 
swerving integrity and of Puritan simplicity. 

As Daniel H. Bemis did not begin to practice in Clinton 
until after the war, his story is left for future histories. 

Since the most important service that Enoch K. Gibbs ren- 
dered the community was in connection with law and the 
courts, his record is entered here. Enoch K. Gibbs was 
born in Sturbridge, Mass., July 31, 1811. His father, Elijah 
Gibbs, was a farmer. The boy was brought up on the farm 
and attended the common schools. He came to Factory 
Village when he was seventeen years old to learn the comb 
business. He remained here some years. He then became 



ENOCH K. GIBBS. 



429 



a member of the firm of Gibbs, Tiffany & Company of Stur- 
bridge, which was engaged in the manufacture of pistols. 
He returned to this section in 1839. He had married Mar- 
tha Lowe, the daughter of John Lowe, April 21, 1833. They 
had six children, Albion W., Charles W., William H., Edward 
M., and two daughters. He came into possession of the 
homestead of John Lowe on North Main Street and, here, 
he has since spent his life. October 15, 1872, he married 
Martha C. Hart. We have seen how he engaged in the 
comb business on Rigby Brook. In later life, he was our 
best known auctioneer. He was one of the officers of the 
first temperance society in Factory Village and one of the 
organizers and most earnest supporters of the Congrega- 
tional Society of Clinton. 

He served his first writ as a constable October 19, 1846. 
In October, 1850, he was appointed deputy sheriff of Wor- 
cester County, an office which he held for thirty-nine years. 
During this time, he served three thousand four hundred and 
eighty-six attachments. So great was his coolness and tact, 
that although he was frequently threatened, sometimes with 
loaded weapons, yet he was never attacked so as to receive 
any injury. For six years, he had charge of the grand jury. 
He had an office for a long time with C. G. Stevens at the 
Library Building on Union Street. 

He was appointed postmaster April 6, 1861, under Presi- 
dent Lincoln, and served until August i, 1870. The office 
during all this time was in the Library Building. Among 
his clerks were his sons, Albion W. and William H. Gibbs, 
Oscar M. Lawrence and Maria M. Paul. 

Mr. Gibbs is passing an honored old age among us in 
well earned repose. 

In the early days of this community, ver}- little demand 
was made on the services of the physicians. Some did not 

*See page 166, 



430 



DOCTORS. 



"believe in doctors," some were fatalists and said: "If the 
sick person is goin^^ to get well he will get well, doctor or no 
doctor, and, if he is fore-ordained to die, he will die in spite 
of all the doctors in the world." With others, the prayers 
of the minister or deacon were considered of more efficacy 
than the prescriptions of the physician. There were certain 
women, too, in ever}' community who had acquired the repu- 
tation of knowing how to care for the sick "better than any 
doctor." Although superstition too often conferred this 
reputation on some old hag, yet it is doubtless true that 
there were some women, "born nurses," who were more 
capable of dealing with ordinary cases of disease than the 
poorly educated practitioners of that olden time. Moreover, 
every mother of a family was supposed to know something 
of the art of medicine which had been handed down in 
recipe books or by word of mouth from generation to gen- 
eration. Each housewife laid away her store of herbs for 
the winter with as much care as she made her preserves. 
Wormwood and thoroughwort, plantain leaves and tansy, 
false indigo and Saint John's-wort, pennyroyal and catnip, 
sarsaparilla and horehound, sassafras and dandelion, the dif- 
ferent kinds of mints and mallows and various other pro- 
ducts of garden, field and forest were gathered and dried 
and hung up in bundles along the rafters of the attic against 
the day of need. 

Old people with chronic complaints were constantly dos- 
ing themselves, especiall}' with the New England rum, which 
was with some the universal specific. Often, some bitter 
concoction of herbs was kept simmering b)' the fire and a sip 
would be taken as opportunity offered. In the spring, "the 
system always seemed to need toning up." 

In a case of illness, if the home store of herbs, the eme- 
tic, "the rum sweat" and the poultice failed to work a cure, 
the wise woman of the village was called in. If the patient 
still lived and failed to recover, either the minister or the 
doctor might be summoned. The latter came with his sad- 



DR. GEORGE W. SYMONDS. 431 

die bags and surgical instruments. The lancet never was 
missing. Bleeding was the chief means of conquering dis- 
ease, "visit and venesection" the most frequent charge. 
The physicians were not lacking in prescriptions, however. 
One prepared by Dr. Stephen Ball of Northboro, whose 
visits extended even to this section during the first half of 
the present century, contained thirty ingredients. A patient 
asked him one day: "What is the need of so many differ- 
ent things, Doctor?" "Well," the doctor answered, "if )ou 
are going to shoot a bird, you use plenty of shot. Some of 
these things will be pretty sure to hit the case." One of his 
common directions was: " Take a little of this 'ere and a 
little of that 'are, put it in a jug before the fire, stir it up with 
your little finger and take it when you are warm, hot, cold 
or feverish." In his "Resipee Book" is found the following 
recipe for scratches: " One qrt. fishworms, washed clean, 
one pound hog's lard stewed together, filtered through a 
strainer and add half a pint oil turpentine, half pint good 
brandy, simmer it well and it is fit for use." 

There was no regular physician within present Clinton 
limits until Dr. George W. Symonds came in 1845, ^^^ those 
from other sections of Lancaster and the neighboring towns 
were occasionally called. We have already had occasion to 
notice the celebrated Dr. William Dunsmoor of Revolution- 
ary times. The blood of the Prescotts and the Sawyers 
flowed in his veins, and he was closely associated with the 
people of this section. He was no less noted as a patriot 
and as a man of affairs than as a physician. He died in 1784, 
at the age of fifty. During the first years of the present cen- 
tury, Israel Atherton, — who lived in New Boston and gave 
the name to the Atherton Bridge, which was near his dwell- 
ing-place, — James Carter and Samuel Manning were physi- 
cians in Lancaster, and had more or less practice in this 
vicinity. 

Dr. Calvin Carter, who died in 1859, had for many years 
almost a monopoly of the practice in the South Village. He 



432 



DOCTORS. 



was the son of Dr. James Carter, and was similar to his father 
in character. Dr. G. M. Morse, in some reminiscences read 
before the Clinton Historical Society, says: "The physicians 
in town in 1846, were Dr. Symonds, Dr. Burdett and myself. 
We were kindly assisted in our labors by Drs. Carter, Lincoln 
and J. L. S. Thompson of Lancaster, and Dr. P. T. Kendall 
of Sterling. These have all passed to their reward. Proba- 
bly no man in this section had such a reputation as a physi- 
cian and surgeon as the late Dr. Carter. He then had his 
office in the house (lately) occupied by Dr. G. L. Tobey, in 
Lancaster. He was a queer compound of ignorance, wisdom, 
tact and skill in prescribing, and today is remembered by his 
old patients with the greatest kindness and respect, I might 
almost say, reverence. 1 once heard a man say that it would 
do more to cure a patient to see his old gray horse and sulky 
drive into the yard, than all the medicine of all the doctors 
within ten miles. He never received a diploma from any 
medical college, but had a license to practice from the 
Massachusetts Medical Society. He had a very oracular 
way of answering questions. Soon after I came here, a man 
was injured at the Counterpane Mill, and of course Dr. Car- 
ter must be sent for. He visited the patient, came down 
stairs, and the companions of the injured man crowded around 
him. 'Well, doctor, what do you think of the man?' He 
paused, then said: ' Four times six is twenty-four. Go long!' 
The man died the next day. This passed for wisdom." 

In an article published in the Clinton Courant, December 
28, 1895, Hon. Henry S. Nourse gives the following descrip- 
tion of his characteristics: "His parting admonition to a 
favorite pupil about to start upon the practice of his profes- 
sion, was: ' Well, Charles, you must be honest — at least as hon- 
est as the times will permit you to be. You may have to lie 
once in a while, but always keep the probabilities within sight.' 
He knew everybody, young and old, by name, and often halted 
to gossip with those met in his drives, commenting in quaint 
phrase upon some topic of the day. Shortly after the birth 



DR. CALVIN CARTER. 



433 



of Clintonville, sundr)' youthful M. D.'.s illuminated its chief 
street with their bright gilt-lettered signs. The old doctor, 
driving homeward in his shabb}' sulky, saw an old acquaint- 
ance on the street, and stopping short, addressed him with: 
'Gilbert, how man)' doctors have you got here?' Mr. Greene 
counted them up on his fingers and said six, or whatever the 
number then was. 'Six! Good Heavens ! damned if it isn't 
lamentable !' and the doctor jerked the reins and hurried out 
of the village. To a worthy old lady who, in spite of shak- 
ing nerves and protesting friends, would have sooner died 
than give up her two cups of strong tea at each meal, he re- 
plied when she asked him if tea could be injurious: 'Cer- 
tainly not, madam, if you drink it strong enough.' His doses 
were heroic, for the rural majority then seemed to think that 
curatives must of necessity be nasty, and that tumultuous 
intestinal war was an essential preliminary to the establish- 
ment of a peaceful working together of humanity's organs. 
Strong-willed patients who had experienced the revolution- 
ary result of swallowing some of Dr. Carter's favorite deter- 
gents, sometimes became rebellious. An old gentleman 
whose 'I won't' meant something more than contingent re- 
luctance, was constrained to consult the doctor one day. 
After the usual fingering of wrist and inspection of a furry 
tongue, the doctor pronounced it a case of torpidity of liver, 
and added: 'An emetic will set you all right in a day or two.' 
Now, if there existed any superfluity which the old gentle- 
man had made up his mind never to indulge in again, it was 
an emetic. After a little mild expostulation, the doctor 
dropped argument and asked what he would prescribe for 
himself. The sick man thought he could swallow a pill or 
two. The pills were deftly made before the patient's face, 
received from the doctor's soft hand, and disappeared. The 
next day, when the doctor's sulk}' drew up at the door he 
was met on the threshold by the lady of the house, with a 
dolorous tale of her husband's terrible experience. 'Why, 
those pills were worse than two emetics,' said she, ' and they 



434 



DOCTORS. 



have left Mr. C. as weak as a dish-cloth.' 'Ah! I shouldn't 
wonder, but it can't very well be helped now,' responded the 
doctor in his soft drawl, with an appreciative grin." 

The practice of Dr. Henry Lincoln and Dr. J. L. S. Thomp- 
son was comparatively light in this neighborhood, although 
each of them had some patients. 

Dr. Pierson T. Kendall of Sterling also had some practice 
here, and as he was a considerable factor in the development 
of Clinton, and in his old age had his home in this community, 
his biography claims closer consideration. 

He graduated from Harvard University in 1812, at the 
age of nineteen. He received his diploma from the Harvard 
Medical School in 1816, and in the following year began to 
practice in Sterling. For forty years he made Sterling his 
home, although he paid many visits to all the neighboring 
villages and shared with his rival. Dr. Carter, the patronage 
of the outlying districts. One who knew him well says, 
that he always had a lot of practice on hand, and whenever 
there were no special calls to make he would start out in his 
old sulky and visit all his chronic cases for miles around. 
By carefully planning his circuit, he was able to bring in a 
great many distant families with comparatively little travel, 
and thus get a considerable number of large fees for his 
day's work. Like all other country physicians of those ear- 
lier times, he was often obliged to accept his pay in the pro- 
duce of the farm, as ready money was a scarce article. On 
his return from one of these trips, his old sulky was usually 
loaded with apples, potatoes, turnips, grain, meat or any of 
the articles that farmers used for barter. He was accus- 
tomed to take many of his meals in the families of his 
patients, for it was convenient for him and they were always 
glad to have him, as he would, in his genial way, bring to 
them the news of the outside world. We have seen how in 
1844-5, ^^ built the Kendall Block in Clintonville where the 
Bank Building now stands. We have seen, too, the promi- 
nent part taken in the affairs of the village by his son, 



GEORGE WASHINGTON SYMONDS. 



435 



George H. Kendall. Dr. Kendall built the Kendall cottage 
to the south of his store building and rented it for some 
years to one after another of our leading families. He also 
built and owned several other houses in town. It was owing 
to this fact that Kendall Court and Kendall Place received 
their names. From 1845, orders for visits were left for him 
at the store. In 1857, D*"- Kendall moved here himself and 
occupied his cottage. He was then a man of sixty-five. He 
secured some local practice, although his younger rivals main- 
tained their hold on most of it. He died January 11, 1865. 
George Washington Symonds, the first physician settled 
in Clintonville, was born in Reading, Mass., October 16, 
181 1. He studied medicine at Hanover, N. H., and received 
his diploma from Dartmouth in 1841. He began to practice 
in Shirley, but in the course of a year or so went to Lancas- 
ter where he became an assistant of Dr. Calvin Carter. He 
came to Clintonville in 1845, ^^^ had an office in Deacon 
John Burdett's building on High Street, opposite the Metho- 
dist Church. In the early years of his life here, he had a 
very fast horse and drove most furiously. He always rode 
in an open gig, and there are many of our older citizens who 
remember him as speeding past with the ends of his scarf 
flying behind. He was a great worker, "indefatigable in 
the cause of suffering humanity." As he was "a friend of 
the poor," a careless bookkeeper and a bad collector, al- 
though he had a large practice, it brought him little wealth. 
He was a man of impulse and of a most generous nature. A 
friend said of him: "I have known him for twenty-five 
years and never did I ask a favor at his hands but full meas- 
ure was given me." At one time, he nearly monopolized 
the practice among the Irish families in town, and it is said 
that at his death, August 11, 1873, he was mourned among 
them as a dear friend. He was twice married and by his 
first wife, a daughter of Samuel Osgood, had one son, who 
survived him. He was a man of decided opinions and ex- 
pressed them freely. He was an ardent worker in the tem- 



436 DOCTORS. 

perance and anti-slavery movements. He was a Republican 
in politics, and at one time was the candidate for the Gen- 
eral Court. He served the town on the board of selectmen. 
He was a member of the school committee from i860 to 
1863. He was a member of the Baptist Society and acted 
as its secretary for many years. 

In 1857, Dr. Charles Addison Brooks came to Clinton 
from Keene, N. H. He was born in 1823. He had been a 
mechanic in his youth, but finally determined to study medi- 
cine. He graduated from the Hahnemann Medical School 
at Philadelphia. All our previous physicians had been allo- 
pathic. Dr. Brooks found enough people in Clinton and the 
neighboring towns who preferred homoeopathy to give him 
a good practice. At first he had an office at the Clinton 
House, then at Greene's Block. In later years, he purchased 
the estate of Mrs. George Bowman on Church Street. This 
became his family residence and he used the basement for 
an office. Dr. Brooks was for twelve years a director of the 
First National Bank and was a member of the investing 
committee. He was twice married. By his first wife, he had 
one son who became a physician, but died after a short and 
successful career in Boston. By his second wife, he had two 
daughters. During the period which our history covers, he 
had established a high reputation for professional courtesy 
and judgment. Most of his life among us belongs to a later 
period, for he continued in active practice here until his 
death, June 3, 1889. 

Dr. Charles D. Dowse, who had received a regular medi- 
cal diploma and had practiced in Shirley, had a home and 
office at the corner of Maine and Water Streets in 1849. 
He had come here at the desire of his friend, C. W. Worces- 
ter, and lived in the same double house with him. Later, 
while his residence remained unchanged, he had an office in 
the Bancroft building at the corner of High and Union 
Streets. He stayed in town only a year or two. He moved 
to the vicinity of Boston where he died many years ago. 



OUR LEADING PHYSICIANS. 



437 



In 1852, Dr. A. W. Dillingham, "a botanic ph^^sician," 
had rooms in G. P. Smith's building. His stay was still 
shorter than that of Dr. Dowse. 

Adoniram J. Greeley, a brother of H. C. Greeley, was a 
physician in Clinton for a year or so. He was a graduate of 
Brown University and received the diploma of the Harvard 
Medical School in 1845. He practised for ten years or so in 
Searsport, Me., before coming to Clinton. After a brief 
stay among us, he went to Providence, R. I., where he prac- 
tised until his death in September, 1893. 

In addition to these men, as Dr. Morse has said: "There 
was the usual number of itinerant doctors of all kinds and 
stripes — botanic. Indian, eclectic, electric, magnetic and 
mesmeric quacks ; but they would only remain a few days, 
and having reaped their harvests would depart." 

The two physicians most closely connected with the his- 
tory of our town in length and amount of practice and in the 
influence of their citizenship, are Dr. G. VV. Burdett and Dr. 
G. M. Morse. As there was a remarkable parallelism in the 
lives of C. G. Stevens and J. T. Dame, our leading lawyers 
of earl)' times, and in the lives of Rev. C. M. Bowers and 
Rev. G. M. Bartol, the two clergymen who served long- 
est in this vicinity, so the lives of these physicians have 
had much in common. There is but little difference in their 
age. They attended the same medical schools for the same 
length of time. They began their practice here the same 
year. They had the same up-hill work in securing patients 
among the older families who clung to Dr. Calvin Carter and 
distrusted younger men. They both won success through 
their efficiency. For many years, they lived on adjoin- 
ing lots. Through exchange, they have read the same medi- 
cal journals, and thus, while retaining what was best in the 
old, have kept alike informed of ever)' step of progress made 
in their profession. The)' have each played a most impor- 
tant part in the histor)' of our town, a part which cnnnot be 
measured, until they have received the credit due for their 



438 DOCTORS. 

share in the labors of those whose anxieties they have re- 
lieved, whose strength they have restored, and whose lives 
they have saved. They have been ardent Republicans. 
They have each done much service and received many 
honors as citizens. Both have often been called upon to 
make public addresses. They have each filled out half a 
century of unremitting labor in behalf of this community. 

Dr. George M. Morse is the son of Ebenezer and Esther 
(Crafts) Morse. He was born in Walpole, N. IT., August 
27, 1821. His father was a physician. He passed his child- 
hood at Walpole, and prepared for college at the Walpole 
and Keene Academies. After attending the Medical School 
at Dartmouth one year, he went to the Harvard Medical 
School, where he graduated in 1843. Fo^ the next three 
years, he practiced medicine at Claremont, N. H. He mar- 
ried Eleanor C. Chase, the daughter of Bishop Carlton 
Chase. From this marriage, there is one son, George F., 
who is now living in Lancaster. Hearing of the develop- 
ment of Clintonville, the doctor visited here and determined 
to settle, although H. N. Bigelow advised strongly against it 
on the ground that there was no room for another physician. 
Dr. Morse says: "I came to town on one of the first days of 
March, 1846. I came in a sleigh, in the midst of a snow- 
storm, in the evening of a cold, dreary March day, inquiring 
my way over Ballard Hill of the people living on the route, 
many of whom never heard of Clintonville, but knew that a 
large cotton factory was being built in the southerly part of 
Lancaster." 

For the first two years, he lived on Main Street near the 
railroad station. In 1847, ^^ built his present residence at 
the corner of Walnut and Church .Streets. He moved into 
it in 1848. As far as is known, no other citizen of Clinton is 
now living in a house which has been continuously occupied 
by himself for so many years. This house lot was the first 
that was bought east of High Street. The house of Rev. 
C. M. Bowers, which has since been burned, was built about 



DR. GEORGE M. MORSE. 43^ 

the same time, and that of Deacon James Patterson soon 
followed. Dr. Morse says: "People expostulated with me 
for going away out of town. * * * At this time, our beauti- 
tiful Common was simply a cranberry swamp." 

For his second wife, he married Mary F. Stearns, daughter 
of Deacon William Stearns, by whom he has had two daugh- 
ters. The family has attended the Unitarian Church. 

Dr. Morse took an active part in the movement for the 
separation of Clintonville from Lancaster. He was a mem- 
ber of the board of overseers of District No. 10. He was 
on the school committee of Lancaster in 1848-9. He was 
chosen on the school committee of the new town from 
1854-1857. He also served as an assessor and was a 
fire engineer. In later years, he was one of the building 
committee of the Town Hall. He has been a director of 
the Bigelow Free Public Library for many years, and is now 
chairman of that board. He was "surgeon to the draft" 
during the Civil War. He went to the South after the bat- 
tle of Antietam to care for our fellow-citizens who had suf- 
fered in that battle. He has been examining surgeon to the 
Pension Office for about thirty years. He was for fourteen 
years the medical examiner for Worcester County. In later 
years, he has been especialh' connected with the organization 
and development of the Clinton Hospital. 

The Burdett family have been closely connected with 
nearly every phase of local history for almost a century. 
We have seen Nathan Burdett as one of the early comb- 
makers, as the teamster of the first cotton factory, as an ac- 
tive member of School District No. 10, and as a selectman 
of Lancaster, representing Clintonville in its period of most 
rapid growth. We have seen John Burdett, the brother of 
Nathan, as a pioneer in Baptist worship, and as the first of 
our older citizens to aid in the commercial development of 
the community by the construction of worthy buildings for 
stores. We have seen the nephews of Nathan and John, 
Augustus P., Horatio S., and Albert T. Burdett among the 



440 DOCTORS. 

most progressive of our early merchants, and another nephew, 
Jerome S., in charge of the Clinton House. We have also 
had occasion before to notice the services rendered to the 
community by the sons of Nathan Burdett. 

George Washington Burdett, the .fifth son, was born Feb- 
ruary 17, 1819. He has never been long absent from this, his 
native place, and has therefore spent more years in this com- 
munity than any other citizen now living in it. He passed his 
childhood at home with the alternations of work, play and 
study usual among the boys of those days. After mastering 
all the branches taught in the school of District No. 10, he 
spent a year at Bride's School in Berlin. After another year 
of work and private study in Northboro, he became a teacher 
in Albany, New York, where he remained for a year. We 
have seen him as a successful teacher in District No. 10 in 
the winter of 1842-3. He next entered the Dartmouth Med- 
ical School, where he spent one year. The following winter, 
he was teaching again at home. From 1844, he was in the 
Harvard Medical School, where he graduated after two years 
of study, in the spring of 1846. He was a member of the 
private medical classes of Dr. Winslow Lewis and Prof. Sam- 
uel Cabot, M. D., for two years, in addition to the University 
studies. 

He had already determined to settle in Clintonville, and 
at once took an office in the Bancroft building. November 
24, 1846, Dr. Burdett married Elizabeth J. Valentine, daugh- 
ter of Elmer Valentine of Northboro. They have had seven 
children, four sons and three daughters. In 1849, Dr. Bur- 
dett completed a house on Union Street, below A. P. Bur- 
dett's Block. Here, he had his home and office until 1867, 
when he purchased his present residence on Church Street. 
His Union Street house was afterwards sold to A. A. Bur- 
ditt. Since 1852, he has been a half owner of Burdett 
Block and has had control of other real estate. He has 
been a trustee of the Clinton Savings Bank since its organi- 
zation, and with the exception of C. G. Stevens, is the only 



DR. GEORGE W. BURDETT. 441 

one of the original board now in office. He has been first 
vice-president since the death of Col. G. M. Palmer in 1885, 
and has presided at all the meetings in the absence of the 
president. He was a member of the board of overseers in 
District No. 10 for two j-ears, and a member of the general 
school commitiee of Lancaster in 1848-9. 

During the first three years after the incorporation of the 
town, he served on the school committee and helped organize 
the new school system. He was for many years a member 
of the board of directors for the Bigelow Free Public 
Library. He has been master of the Trinity Lodge of Free 
and Accepted Masons. The greatest work outside of his 
profession that Dr. Burdett has done for the community has 
been in connection with the Baptist Church. We shall see 
that he was the chief agent in its organization and that he 
served as its clerk for some forty years or more. From the 
beginning, his name was on every important committee ap- 
pointed by the church or society. He was ever among the 
foremost in the business of the society, on the subscription 
lists, in the charitable work, in the social functions, in the 
Sunday school, in the prayer meetings and in every phase of 
church life. 

Jeremiah Fiske, who was born at Temple, N. H., Febru- 
ary 10, 1824, came to Clintonville in the fall of 1849. ^^ 
had passed his childhood and youth on his father's farm. In 
addition to his studies at the district school, he had spent 
one term at the Hancock Academy. He studied dentistry 
with Dr. Palmer of Fitchburg. 

On coming to Clintonville, he began business on the 
second floor of A. P. Burdett's Block. Dr. W. N. Snow, 
whose office was in the Bancroft building, had already 
moved to Worcester, as C. D. Cook, his predecessor, had 
had done before, although each of them still retained some 
Clintonville business. Near the end of 1850, Dr. Fiske 
moved to Dr. Burdett's new building on Union Street and C. 



442 DENTISTS. 

F. Home soon after took the office in Burdett's Block. 
Early in 1852, Amos A. Pevey, who had been a student with 
Dr. Fiske, was taken into partnership. During this year, C. 
F. Home moved to the Kendall Block and Fiske & Pevey 
took the rooms in the Burdett Block. Dr. Home subse- 
quently removed to an ofifice over W. C. Carter's store, and 
then to the Library Building. In 1855, he went away from 
town. Daniel B. Ingalls and Gustavus A. Gerr)' began to 
study dentistry with F"iske & Pevey in 1855. ^^- Gerry went 
to Lowell, where he became one of the leading men of the 
city. Early in 1856, the firm of Fiske & Pevey dissolved. 
Dr. Fiske remained at the old stand and soon took in Dr. D. 
B. Ingalls as his partner. 

Dr. Pevey went into partnership with his brother, Frank 
M. Pevey, who had previously studied with Fiske & Pevey. 
This new firm took rooms at first in Kendall's Block, but as 
soon as Greene's Block was completed, in 1858, moved thither. 
The Pevey brothers remained in Clinton until 1867, and did a 
large business. Two younger brothers, B. M. and C. K. Pevey, 
learned dentistry of them. Dr. Amos A. Pevey bought the 
house next west of the present Courant Block and the 
family lived there for years. He was especially prominent 
in Masonic circles. After leaving Clinton, he practised den- 
tistry in Worcester and in Woonsocket, R. I. He died 
March 6, 1889, at the age of sixty-one. Frank M. Pevey is 
now living at East Wilton, N. H. 

In 1867, Dr. D. B. Ingalls withdrew from the firm of 
P^iske & Ingalls, and in partnership with A. T. Bigelow, 
bought out the Pevey brothers and took their rooms in 
Greene's Block. Dr. Bigelow went to Boston in 1873, and 
Dr. Ingalls continued business alone. Dr. Fiske went on at 
the old rooms. He was alone two years, and H. C. Kendrick 
was his partner one year. In 1870, the firm became Fiske & 
Bastian. After 1876, Dr. Fiske retired from the local busi- 
ness, but kept up some of his practice in outlying towns. 
Dr. Fiske has been a large owner of real estate in town. 



DANIEL B. INGALLS. 



443 



In company with Dr. G. W. Burdett, he bought Burdett 
Block. He has owned a group of stores and tenements on 
High Street, near the foot of Prospect. He built a private 
residence on Walnut Street. Here, he has lived for over 
forty years. He married Caroline E. Bailey, Februar}- 17, 
1853. They have two daughters. Dr. Fiske has been con- 
nected with the Congregational Society and has been es- 
pecially active in temperance work. 

Daniel B. Ingalls was born at Sutton, Vt., May 25, 1829. 
He was the son of James and Mary (Cass) Ingalls. He 
began to learn the machinist's trade at the age of seventeen, 
in Norwich, Ct. He came to Clintonville to work in the 
machine shop of the Clinton Compan}- in 1847. ^t the age 
of twenty-one he married Rebecca N. Randall. He went to 
California in October, 185 1, and became a miner. In Jan- 
uary, 1853, he returned to Clinton. Of the future life of Dr. 
Ingalls, it is not our province to speak. The future historian 
will tell of his graduation from the Boston Dental College 
in 1874 ; of the addresses he has delivered before the 
Massachusetts Dental Association and various other organi- 
zations; of his devotion to the Baptist Church, of which he 
has been a deacon ; of his labors as a member of the invest- 
ing committee of the Clinton Savings Bank, a director of 
the Lancaster National Bank, and the president of the 
Clinton Co-operative Bank ; of his services to the town as a 
member of various committees and a director of the Bigelow 
Free Public Librar)% and of his work for the state in the 
General Court, in the House of 1880 and in the Senate of 
1881 and '82. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 
THE FIRST EVANGELICAL CHURCH OF CLINTON. 

The early religious history of the section of Lancaster 
which became Clinton is inseparable from that of the rest of 
the town. The Prescotts and their neighbors worshiped un- 
der the ministration of Thomas Rowlandson, John Whiting, 
Andrew Gardner and John Prentice in the old meeting-house 
on the site of what is now known as "The Middle Cemetery" 
of Lancaster, opposite the Thayer estate. The first house 
was destroyed in 1676, the second in 1705. From this time 
until 1742, our people went to divine service with the rest of 
the inhabitants of Lancaster, in a new meeting-house located 
on Bride Cake Plain, opposite the burial ground, a mile to 
the east of the old location. John Prentice was their minis- 
ter during the whole of this period. From 1742 to 1817, the 
house of worship was nearer the center of the town, in front 
of the present residence of Solon Wilder. This building was 
fitted up with pews six feet by five for the more wealthy 
members of the society, while the poorer people occupied 
seats along the central aisle or in the gallery. The men sat 
on one side of the aisle, the women on the other. Special 
seats were reserved for negroes. This meeting-house was 
built during the forty-three years' pastorate of John Prentice, 
who lived until 1748. He was succeeded by Timothy Har- 
rington. Nathaniel Thayer was ordained the colleague of 
Mr. Harrington in 1793. January i, 1817, the "New Brick 
Church," which is now standing, was first occupied. 

At this time, the majority of the church members of Lan- 



HILLSIDE CHURCH. 



445 



caster sympathized with the movement which was sweeping 
away so many of the congregations of New England from 
the old evangelical standards. Those who were more con- 
servative in their views felt that they were not receiving the 
proper spiritual food, hence there was an increasing tendency 
to unite with evangelical churches in other towns, or to form 
new organizations. As the religious society at Lancaster 
was supported by taxation, and all the tax-payers in town, 
who did not have a certificate of membership in religious 
societies elsewhere were obliged to contribute to "the stand- 
ing order," the building of this new church edifice naturally 
inclined some to ally themselves with organizations where 
the expenses were less. Thus, we find some even who con- 
tinued to attend the services in the "Brick Church" became 
members of other societies. The majority of the people of 
this district who attended meeting anywhere sat under the 
preaching of Rev. Nathaniel Thayer, until he died in 1840. 
Many kept on attending at the old meeting-house through 
the pastorate of Rev. Edmund H. Sears, who served the 
church from 1 840-1847. Some few, who were decidedly 
Unitarian in their belief, worshiped under Rev. George M. 
Kartol until the Unitarian Society of Clinton ,was organized. 

Preliminary steps for building the "Hillside Church" of 
Bolton, on the western slope of Wataquadock Hill, were 
taken March 4, 1828. Sampson V. S. Wilder was the orig- 
inator of this church and its most liberal supporter, although 
many people of every evangelical denomination represented 
in Lancaster, Sterling, Bolton and Stow attended service 
there. Several of the families of the Factory Village, the 
Lowes among others, worshiped there. It is said that the 
church was capable of seating seven hundred people. The 
basement was fitted up with a reading room and an extensive 
set of cupboards for the benefit of those who came from a 
distance and brought their dinners, as most of the congrega- 
tion did. In 1830, Rev. Joseph W. Chickering began to 



446 FIRST EVANGELICAL CHURCH. 

preach there. After the retirement of Mr. Chickering, the 
pulpit was occupied successively by Revs. Peabody, Daven- 
port and Adams. The starting of the evangelical church in 
Lancaster Center in 1839 and the evangelical church in Clin- 
tonviUe in 1844, removed the need of a church at such a dis- 
tance from either village, and so the services there were 
given up.* 

The First Evangelical Congregational Church in Lancas- 
ter, which was organized in February, 1839, had in 1844 
twenty-six members from Clintonville, and the number of 
those attending service from here must have been much 
larger. Among these were the Bigelows and many other 
of the most prominent citizens. The first meetings of this 
congregation were at the house of Rev. Asa Packard, a re- 
tired minister then living in Lancaster. Rev. Charles Pack- 
ard was ordained January i, 1840. The dedication of the 
meeting-house occurred December i, 1849. ^^ the early 
forties, John P. Houghton carried an omnibus load of people 
from Clintonville to Lancaster Center every Sunday morning 
to attend the Congregational and Unitarian services there. 

As early as 1840, a Sabbath School was gathered for 
weekly study of the Bible by the Evangelical Congregation- 
alists of Clintonville. The meetings were held in the brick 
school-house on Main Street, the use of which was obtained 
after much opposition. The first contribution taken up was 
for a library. It amounted to thirty dollars. H. N. Bigelow 
was the first superintendent; Henry Lewis, assistant super- 
intendent; James S. Lawrence, secretary and treasurer, and 
Amos Holbrook, librarian. Carter Wilder, John Lowe, The- 
odore Jewett and Joseph B. Parker were also prominently 
connected with its organization. The latter was a superin- 
tendent from 1842. Congregationalists, Baptists and Meth- 
odists attended the school. The "Union Question Book" 
'was used. There was also a preaching service held here at 



•For full account of this church, see Courant of August 27, i! 



ORGANIZATION. 



447 



five o'clock. Among those who preached were Revs. Cross 
and Tracy of West Boylston, Davis of Fitchburg and Pack- 
ard of Lancaster. Revivals were the result of this Sunday 
School and this preaching, and thus the number of those 
professing faith in Christ was constantly increased through 
confession as well as from the influx of operatives. 

June II, 1844, H. N. Bigelow, L. F. Bancroft, G. H. Ken- 
dall, T. B. Sawyer, C. K. Sawyer and A. H. Parker, "mem- 
bers of the Religious Society which has recently worshiped in 
the Brick School-House in the South Village in Lancaster," 
petitioned James G. Carter to issue a warrant for a meeting 
to be held June 19th, for the purpose of organizing a society. 
Such a meeting was legally called on the specified date. 
William Eaton was chosen clerk and duly sworn by J. G. 
Carter. Levi Greene was made moderator and a committee 
consisting of H. N. Bigelow, J. B. Parker, Levi Greene, A. 
H. Parker and Haskell McCollum chosen to draft a code of 
by-laws for the society. This committee called the adjourned 
meeting July i6th, and made its report. The first article reads: 
"Resolved: That we form ourselves into a religious society 
to be known as the Second Evangelical Society in Lancas- 
ter, and to unite with a church of Christ which is hereafter 
to be formed in support of Orthodox Evangelical Preaching 
in the South Village of Lancaster." 

No action of the society looking toward the building of 
a chapel was entered upon the records, but the next recorded 
meeting of the society was called at "their chapel," Decem- 
ber 10, 1844. This chapel was largely built by the means, 
and under the supervision of H. N. Bigelow. The site of 
this building was the southwest corner of Main and Ster- 
ling Streets. Its doors, one upon either side of the front, 
openeiJ from Main Street. As one entered the audience 
room, the pulpit was directly in front and on the west side 
of the oblong structure. The singing-seats were on the east 
side between the doors. There were no pews, but settees 



448 FIRST EVANGELICAL CHURCH. 

were used. The seating capacity was two hundred. The 
room was heated by box stoves.* 

The first entry in the records ot the Second Evangehcal 
Church of Lancaster was made September 26, 1844. It was 
as follows: A number of brethren who are members of 
Christ's visible church in different places, feeling it impor- 
tant on account of the growing population and other reasons 
that there should be a church of Christ organized in Clinton- 
ville. Lancaster, met at the chapel for prayer and considera- 
tion of the matter. After a choice of Rev. J. M. R. Eaton 
for moderator and after deliberation on the subject, it was 
thought to be the duty of all friends of Christ in the place 
to unite and take the steps for forming a church here. It 
was then voted that a committee of five be selected to draw 
up a form of covenant, confession of faith and articles of 
discipline. Rev. J. M. R. Eaton, Deacon J. B. Parker, Levi 
Houghton, Haskell McCollum and Hiram Morgan were 
chosen. Artemas H. Parker, Anson Lowe and C. K. Saw- 
yer were chosen a committee to obtain the names of all who 
would unite in building up Christ's kingdom in the place." 

A meeting was called to hear the report of these com- 
mittees on the twenty-second of October. Fifty-five. persons 
had been found, who, being members of churches in different 
places, were ready to unite to form a church here. The 
covenant, confession of faith and discipline and rules of the 
church presented, were those usual in Evangelical Congre- 
gational churches and possess no striking peculiarities. 

*In later years, after being used by the Baptists and being altered in 
1849, 3.t an expense of about a thousand dollars, for a High School, the 
building was moved to the south near the present site of Wallace's 
grain store and raised and changed into a tenement house of two 
stories. The doors were put on one of the longer sides and smaller wiji- 
dows were put in. Otherwise, the outside appearance of the building 
was little altered. Still later, it was moved to the north side of Sterling 
Street, where it is now standing opposite the Wire Mill. It is known as 
the Dunbar or Lyman House. 



ORGANIZATION. 



449 



November 14th, an evangelical council was called at the 
house of H. N. Bigelovv. There were delegates from the 
churches in Harvard, West Boylston, Lancaster, Fitchburg 
and Leominster. Rev. George Fisher of Harvard was made 
moderator. The council then adjourned to the chapel. 
Letters of recommendation were presented from various 
churches for fifty-one persons who wished to unite to form 
the new church.* 

"Documents were then laid before the council and state- 
ments made, whereupon it was 

"Voted: That the proceedings of the petitioners for a 
new church have thus far been satisfaciory, and that it is ex- 
pedient and desirable that a new church be formed. 

"Voted: That the persons whose names have been read 
be formed into a church of Christ to be called the "Second 
Evangelical Church of Lancaster." In the public services 
in the afternoon. Rev. Hope Brown offered the introductory 
prayer. Rev. J. W. Cross of West Boylston preached the ser- 
mon, Rev. George Fisher of Harvard read the Confession of 

*From the church in Lancaster: Sophia Greene, John Lowe, Jr., Sylvia 
McColhim, Mary Lowe, Martha L. Gibbs, Lorinda Lowe, Haskell McCol- 
lum, Polly Bigelow, Lucy Greene, Betsy Stone, Eliza Houghton, Eliza 
E. Houghton, Levi Houghton, Joseph B. Parker, Anson Lowe, Eliza H. 
Sawyer, Joseph T. Sawyer, Emily Bigelow, Ira G. Childs, Abigail Childs, 
Levi Greene, Nathaniel Rice, Mary A. Parker, Mary E. Sawyer, Mary 
Ann Osgood, Charles Miller. 

From the church in West Boylston: Elizabeth S. Parker, Lucina L. 
Morgan, Hiram Morgan. 

From church in Shirley: Hannah Harris, Sampson Worcester, Mary 
B. Worcester, Almira Worcester, William Eaton, Susan Eaton, Louisa 
E. Jewett. 

From church in Leominster: George W. Wakefield, Maria Wakefield, 
George H. Wheelock. 

From church in Northboro: C. K. Sawyer, Nancy H. Sawyer. 

From Southwick, Roxana Wilcox; Sturbridge, Enoch K. Gibbs; Hol- 
den, Adeline E. Howe; Oxford, Abijah Nichols, Mary E. Nichols; church 
in Andover Theological Seminary, A. H. Parker; Darien, James I. 
Wyer; Weston, Henry H. Wyer; Providence, R. I., Jonas Hunt, Eliza 
Hunt. 
30 



450 



FIRST EVANGELICAL CHURCH. 



Faith and Covenant by which the church was constituted. 
Rev. E. W. Bullard of Fitchburg offered the constituting 
prayer and Rev. Charles Packard of Lancaster gave the 
right hand of fellowship. Rev. O. G. Hubbard of Leomin- 
ster offered the concluding prayer. January 7, 1845, Joseph 
B. Parker and Ira G. Childs were made deacons of the 
church. 

Thus our first independent religious society with a com- 
plete organization was started on its course. Various auxili- 
ary organizations were soon added. The Sunday School, as 
we have seen, even preceded the church, and from its schol- 
ars "trained in the nurture and admonition of the Lord," 
the church has been constantly recruited from its earliest 
days. Joseph B. Parker continued to act as superintendent 
until 1848. 

Horatio N. Bigelow was leader of the choir. Erastus B. 
Bigelow, when he was in town, played the violin. Gilbert 
Greene and James Burdett rendered the sacred music on 
bass viols. The only reference made in the records in these 
earliest years to music is as follows: "Voted, That the 
society pay rent for the bass viol." "Voted, That we hire the 
same for another year." September 9, 1849, it was voted: 
"The society would be pleased to have the seraphine played 
on trial." 

Eleven days after the church was established. Rev. J. M. 
R. Eaton was invited to become its pastor. Joseph M. R. 
Eaton was born in Fitchburg, October 15, 1814. His father, 
Thomas Eaton, a mechanic and farmer, was a descendant 
from one of the Pilgrim settlers in Plymouth. He was edu- 
cated at Leicester Academy and Amherst College, class of 
1841, and Andover Theological Seminary, class of 1844. He 
first preached in Clintonville, August 3, 1844. He married 
Harriet Downe, December 23, 1844. The society concurred 
in this call and offered a salary of five hundred and fifty 
dollars. He accepted, and was ordained January 9, 1845. 
He had received his license to preach from the Andover 



ANTI-SLAVERY. 45 1 

Council.* A fellow-worker remembers him especially for his 
"gentle and lovely" character. The house now known as 
the Tyler house on High Street was used by Mr. Eaton as a 
parsonage. He was interested, like all the clergymen of his 
day, in the schools, and served as a member from this district 
on the school committee of Lancaster. 

The furniture of the Hillside Church to which several of 
the members of this new church had in former times be- 
longed, was procured for the communion service. Eleven 
new members were added to the church in March, 1845, ^^^ 
ten more in August. March 23, the church voted to join 
the Worcester Association. 

In February, 1845, ^ committee was chosen to draft 
resolutions on the subject of slavery, and March 23, the 
following preamble and resolutions were reported; 

"Whereas, God created man in his own image and per- 
mits him to enjoy the fruits of his own industry ; and has 
denounced a woe against such as use their neighbors' 
services without wages and give him not for his work ; 
and against such as take away the key of knowledge; 
and whereas the system of American Slavery is the 
means of destroying in man the image of his Maker, 
of appropriating without compensation the services of one 
class of men to the support of another, and from taking 
away from millions of our fellow beings the key of knowl- 
edge ; Therefore Resolved : 

"1st, That we consider the system of American Slavery 
in direct violation of the laws of men and the laws of God ; 

* For the public services of ordination, the parts were assigned as 
follows: Reading from the scriptures and prayer, Rev. Charles Packard 
of Lancaster; sermon, Rev. J. L. Taylor, South Church, Andover; 
ordaining prayer, Rev. W. P. Paine, Holden; charge to the pastor. Rev. 
E. W. Bullard, Fitchburg; right hand of fellowship, Rev. H. M. Dex- 
ter, Second Evangelical Church, Manchester, N. H.; address to the 
people. Rev. E. Smalley, Union Church, Worcester; concluding prayer. 
Rev. Henry Adams of Berlin; Rev. J. W. Cross of West Boylston, 
scribe; benediction by the pastor. 



452 



FIRST EVANGELICAL CHURCH. 



"2nd, That, as Christians, we cannot countenance this 
system, but will labor in all proper ways for its extermination; 

"3d, That we cannot admit a slave-holding preacher to 
our pulpit; 

"4th, That we cannot fellowship a slaveholder at the 
table of our Lord." 

These resolutions were unanimously adopted, and thus, 
at this early date, the church took a decided stand against 
the system of slavery. Men like J. B. Parker and his 
associates could bear no tampering with evil, but while the 
anti-slavery cause had few supporters even at the North, 
with all the sternness of their Puritan ancestors, they stood 
for the cause of righteousness. 

In 1846, twenty-seven more were added to the church, 
and in the early months of 1847, ^o^^ others. These, like 
those previously admitted, were mostly by letter. Of the 
total one hundred and three who had joined before the close 
of Rev. J. M. R. Eaton's pastorate, only thirteen had been 
added by profession. 

The congregation became so large that the chapel was 
badly crowded, and in March, 1846, it was voted to build an 
addition thirty-one feet in length ; Levi Greene, William 
T. Merrifield and Ira G. Childs were chosen members of the 
building committee. In April, this vote was reconsidered, 
and it was voted to adopt the plan recommended by H. N. 
Bigelow, namely, to sell the old chapel and build a new one 
on Walnut Street for temporary use. H. N. Bigelow and 
J. D. Otterson were added to the building committee. The 
land was given by H. N. Bigelow. The building was com- 
pleted before the close of the year and dedicated January 
I, 1847. The cost is not recorded, but the society was 
obliged to run in debt for a portion of it. This building had 
little beauty, and deserved the name by which it was 
familiarly known, "The Lord's Barn." It sat back from the 
road considerably farther than the present church, and a 
large oak tree grew in front of it and another on the north. 



REV. WILLIAM H. CORNING. 



453 



In April, 1847, '^ ^^^s found best that the relations exist- 
ing between the pastor and his people should be dissolved. 
Mr. Eaton and his wife received letters to the church in Shir- 
ley, where he was pastor for three years. From February, 
185 1, to June, 1868, he preached at Henniker, N. H. He 
served as stated supply in Medfield from 1869 to 1876. He 
then lived in Fitchburg without any charge. Later, he went 
to California, where he is still living in Redlands, in 1896. 

It was not until the loth of October, that there was 
such a degree of agreement over any candidate for the pul- 
pit that a call was extended. At that time, it was voted by 
the church and society to call Rev. William H. Corning, at a 
salary of eight hundred dollars. He accepted, and was 
ordained December 8, 1847. The sermons of Mr. Corning 
which have been printed, show that he was a man of broad 
culture. In 1854, he published a volume entitled "The 
Infidelity of the Times." He had a remarkable clearness in 
his expression of spiritual truth. Dr. C. M. Bowers says of 
him: "He was in many respects as notable, strong and 
instructive a preacher as ever filled a Clinton pulpit. * * * 
He was a man intellectually well furnished, with a proper 
round of the scholastic theologies of his day, abundantly 
able to expound the doctrines of his faith, not afraid to deal 
with what our times reproach as dogmas, well read in general 
literature, and possessing a good measure of oratorical 
power as a speaker. * * * But he was too limited in height, 
size, limb and muscle for the best endurance." He acted as 
chairman of the school committee of District No. 10 under 
the new organization, and was the first chairman of the 
school committee of the new town. 

Joseph B. Parker resigned the superitendency of the Sun- 
day school in 1848, and Jotham D. Otterson succeeded him. 
He served only one year, and was followed by William W. 
Parker, who was an overseer in the cloth room at the Lan- 
caster Mills. Mr. W. W. Parker was one of the leaders in 
prayer meetings and always ready to give his testimony for 



454 



FIRST EVANGELICAL CHURCH. 



the Lord. It has been said of him that his "religion 
extended to the tips of his fingers." He afterwards studied 
theology at Andover, and became a minister. In 1850, H. 
N. Bigelow again became superintendent, and notwithstand- 
ing the pressure of his secular duties, continued in the oflfice 
for six years. 

Deacon Childs having resigned his ofifice in May, 1848, 
James Orr, who came from Paisley, Scotland, and had begun 
to work at the Lancaster Mills in 1847, was elected as his 
successor in July, 1848. He apparently resigned or declined 
to serve, for November 4, Hiram Morgan was elected to the 
oflfice. Mr. Orr died in 1854. He was the father of Robert 
Orr. Hiram Morgan was a native of Brimfield. He was 
employed at the Coachlace Mill. He built the house on 
School Street now known as the McQuaid house. 

Of these early deacons, Rev. J. M. R. Eaton has recently 
said: "I used to think that, though his words sometimes 
seemed to hang in momentary hesitation, I seldom, if ever, 
heard a more able prayer from a layman's lips than that 
offered by Deacon Parker. Ira G. Childs was associated 
with him in the diaconate of the church. They were true 
yoke-fellows who honored their profession and their office. 
By their mutual influence they did much to build up the 
church. They were possessed of quite different character- 
istics. The milk of human kindness marked the steps of 
Deacon Childs. Deacon Parker was rooted and grounded in 
the truth as the church held it. The Book furnished him 
with chart and compass. If any point were under discussion, 
" How readest thou ?" settled it for him. Deacon Childs, 
while an exemplary, earnest, active christian man, was some- 
times a little disturbed by views held and proclaimed in the 
large Brick church, whose pulpit was occupied at that time 
by an eminent christian minister, holding, as was said, 
the views of Emanuel Swedenborg. The good deacon's 
active brain led him to think on these things, though his 
reason never accepted them, his will never yielded to them. 



REV, WILLIAM D. HITCHCOCK. • 455 

His noble wife stood as a pillar at his side, thoughtful dig- 
nified, a helpmeet indeed. Devout Hiram Morgan and his 
equally devout wife were lights that did not become dim. 
Necessarily employed in the labors of the day, early and 
late, by careful planning and strict economy of time, the 
family Bible and the altar of prayer and thanksgiving were 
not forgotten." 

Mrs. Corning, the pastor's wife, died during 1850. In 
May, 185 1, Rev. W. H. Corning was in such a precarious 
state of health that he was obliged to give up his work. 
The church granted him a vacation until November 1st, on 
the condition that he should resign his pastorate at that 
time if his health should still remain insufficient for the ful- 
fillment of its duties. After some months had passed by, as 
his immediate recovery seemed improbable and the people 
here were feeling the need of pastoral care, it was decided 
October 2d, that he should be dismissed. He subsequently 
preached for some months in the Park Street Church, Bos- 
ton. He entered some time later upon pastoral duties in 
New York state, where he died. During his pastorate forty- 
one had been admitted to the church by letter and twenty- 
one by profession. Eleven of the latter were admitted in 

1850, when a period of religious interest began throughout 
the community which continued for many months. 

Rev. William D. Hitchcock was the next pastor. He 
was called at a salary of eight hundred dollars, October 2, 

185 1. He was a native of Pittsford, Vt. He graduated at 
the Vermont State University and at the Andover Theological 
Seminary. During his brief pastorate of one year and nine 
months, twenty-four were admitted to the church by profes- 
sion and twenty-five by letter. The council called for his 
dismissal July 16, 1853, stated: "that he was a sound and 
discriminating theologian, a judicious, energetic and affec- 
tionate pastor." He served on the school committee from 
1852-3. Mr. Hitchcock lived in the Patterson house on 
Walnut Street. Mr. Hitchcock went to Exeter, N. H. He 
died in 1854. Rev. C. M. Bowers thus characterizes him: 



456 • FIRST EVANGELICAL CHURCH. 

"He was a man of wonderful sweetness and gentleness 
of character, almost too good for some of the stalwart work 
of rebuking sin and carrying on the battle against the world, 
the flesh and the devil. If he knew in himself what sin was 
or what temptation might be in any of its many forms, it 
hardly ever appeared to any one. He lived much in himself 
intellectually and spiritually. Not that he was indifferent 
wholly to social conditions, but his standard of self-making 
was so high he had to economize his whole life in reaching it. 
His speech, appearance and movement had almost a feminine 
delicacy in them. He could hardly say a rough thing and 
almost never a radically bold one. This does not mean that 
his mind was destitute of good tone and quality — far from 
it. If, to use a word we heard applied to a minister the 
other day as a royal virtue, he was no "hustler" and did not 
preach in capital letters and prepare his sermons with enor- 
mous exclamation marks, he gave his people the results of 
careful, honest study and was never surpassed in Sabbath 
ministrations in the production of discourses of able and well 
digested thought by any of his successors. At the same time, 
in his preaching, the best part of his sermon was himself. 
He was an infinitely modest man — too modest and given over 
to much quiet and retired thinking. He could not thump the 
pulpit or whack the bible or speak with the voice of thunder. 
But he could do better. Like Moses he could say: 'My 
doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the 
dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb and as the show- 
ers upon the grass.' Hitchcock was the embodiment of 
grace and goodness." 

In June, 1853, the society debt of twenty-seven hundred 
dollars was paid. A period of nearly nine months intervened 
before another pastor was secured. During this time five 
were added to the church by letter. At length, Rev. Warren 
W. Winchester was chosen and it was voted that his salary 
should be fixed at one thousand dollars. He was ordained 
March 23, 1854. He had previously preached in Wilton, N. 



REV. WARREN W. WINCHESTER. 457 

H. He is especially remembered as a "genial and cordial" 
man, but of his pulpit ministrations we are told " some 
tardiness in the movement of his blood often prevented a 
proper ambition from doing its utmost. Frequently, as late 
as Saturday morning, he did not know what the next day 
might bring forth in the nature of a sermon." He had a 
grqat number of friends outside of his own society. He was 
especially liked in his pastoral functions. He was a member 
of the school committee in 1855 and 1856, and was the last 
of our Congregationalist clergymen to serve in this capa- 
cit)'. He lived in a corporation house on Nelson Street and 
in the Worcester house on Walnut Street. 

The first four years of his pastorate were not marked by 
any events which call for especial attention. In 1858, steps 
were taken to re-model the church building. On July 13 of 
this year, a building committee consisting of H. N. Bigelow, 
Gilbert Greene and C. W. Worcester was appointed to make 
alterations, enlargements and repairs upon their house of 
worship, agreeable to plans submitted and adop^ted at a 
previous meeting. The sum to be expended was not to ex- 
ceed five thousand dollars. The work was begun during the 
summer and pushed forward with such vigor that the re- 
dedication took place February 22, 1859, twelve years after 
the dedication of the first house on the same site. In addi- 
tion to the amount paid by the society, nearly as much more 
was paid by H. N. Bigelow and others for the building and 
its furnishings. The audience room was ninety-three feet by 
forty-five, with a seating capacity of six hundred and fift}'. 
It was lighted by gas. The gas fixtures, the frescoes, the 
Brussels carpeting, the furnishings of the pews, the pulpit 
and the^organ, gave more beauty to the church than had be- 
fore been seen in any house of worship in Clinton. The 
organ, which took the place of an eolian, cost fourteen hund- 
red dollars and was put in by H. N. Bigelow, and for a time 
it remained his private property. The old lecture room of 
the vestry was but little changed. Parlors and a kitchen 



458 FIRST EVANGELICAL CHURCH. 

were provided for the social needs of the congregation. In 
the new tower, a bell, costing six hundred and fifty dollars, 
the gift of E. B. and H. N. Bigelow, was placed. Here, too, 
was the new clock valued at four hundred and fifty dollars, 
the gift of ten gentlemen of the town. This clock and bell 
have been of great value, not alone to the society, but to 
the community at large from that time to this. For the re- 
building, a debt of four thousand dollars was incurred, which 
was paid in 1863. During the period of re-modeling, ser- 
vices were held in the Clinton Hall, although cordial offers 
of the use of their respective houses were made both by the 
Baptists and Unitarians. 

At the dedication, a historical address was given by 
Rev. W. W. Winchester. Rev. W. H. Corning preached the 
sermon. Mr. Winchester said that in addition to the original 
fifty-one members of the church there had been up to this 
time two hundred and sixty-nine additions, one hundred and 
twenty by profession and one hundred and forty-nine by let- 
ter, making a total membership of three hundred and twenty. 
One hundred and three had been dismissed to other churches, 
twenty-seven had died. At that time, the membership was 
fifty-four males and one hundred and thirty-six females. 
The church had given two candidates (W. W. Parker and D. 
W. Kilburn) to the ministry. During the preceding five 
years the benevolent contributions had amounted to five 
hundred dollars annually. "To one individual (H. N. Bige- 
low) more than to any other, the church is indebted for the 
beauty, comfort, finish and taste of the present temple. He 
has watched the enterprise to its consummation with untir- 
ing care. * * * Of him it may be said in a christian sense, 
'He loveth our nation and hath built us a synagogue.' " 

C. F. W. Parkhurst was made a deacon November 24, 
i860, in place of Hiram Morgan who had resigned. Mr. 
Morgan moved to Worcester. 

There was a deep religious interest during the early 
months of 1861, and in May, fifteen new members were 



REV. WARREN W. WINCHESTER. 459 

added to the church by profession, and in July, thirteen 
more. May 26, 1862, Rev. W. W. Winchester resigned, and 
June 17, he was regularly dismissed by a council. He was 
afterwards a hospital chaplain in Washington, D. C. His 
nature was peculiarly fitted for this work, and we are told by 
one of our townsmen who met him while engaged in this 
service that the sick and wounded soldiers used to long for 
his coming and rejoice in his presence. His sunny dispo- 
sition dispelled their despondency and cheered their final 
moments. We next hear of him as a pastor at Bridport, 
Vermont, then as pastor in Blackinton, Berkshire County. 
He died in Williamstown, Mass., August 4, 1889, at the age 
of sixty-five. At the time of his death, he was preparing to 
go to Alaska, as he had been appointed b)- the government 
as superintendent of education in that territory. 

In 1856, Daniel W. Kilburn, a second-hand in the cloth 
room at Lancaster Mills, was elected superintendent of the 
Sunda}' School, an office which he held for three years. Mr. 
Kilburn was a constant attendant at religious services, and 
all delighted to hear his voice at the prayer meetings. He 
received a license to preach, although he never entered into 
the ministerial profession. He afterwards resided in Boston. 
George W. Perry was superintendent in 1859, and Henry S. 
Robinson in i860, and both entered the army, together with 
about forty other members of the school. During the next 
five years, Charles L. Swan, Henr}' C. Kendrick, Daniel W. 
Kilburn, John F. Howell and Charles L. Swan again were 
successively superintendents.* 

*LIST OF SUPERINTENDENTS. 

1840-1. Horatio N. Bigelow. i860. Henry S. Robinson. 

1842-7. Joseph B. Parker. 1861. Charles L. Swan. 

1848. Jotham D. Otterson. 1863. Henry C. Kendrick. 

1849. William W. Parker. 1864. Daniel W. Kilburn. 

1850. Horatio N. Bigelow. 1865. John F. Howell. 
1856-8. Daniel W. Kilburn. 1865. Charles L. Swan. 
1859. George W. Perry. 



46o FIRST EVANGELICAL CHURCH. 

In i860, a Green Street mission school was established by 
Miss Mary C. Sawyer. 

It was the first of December, 1862, before a regular 
preacher was secured. At this time, the Rev. Benjamin Jud- 
kins, a man "of excellent voice and many friends," was hired 
for a year at a salary of one thousand dollars. In Novem- 
ber, 1864, it was increased to twelve hundred dollars. He 
lived at first on Pleasant Street, and later, in the Worcester 
house on Walnut Street. He remained acting pastor until 
December i, 1867. He was a native of Boston and had been 
previously settled at Nantucket and Somerville, Mass,, and 
at Allentown, Penn. After leaving Clinton, he became a 
pastor in a Presbyterian Church at Keokuk, Iowa. He then 
became an Episcopalian and was settled in a church in Con- 
necticut. He served also as rector at Dedham; Mass. He 
died at Houghton, Colorado, December 26, 1893, at the age 
of seventy-three. 

Before the close of the war, the church had some four 
hundred and fifty names on its rolls. About two-fifths of 
these had been admitted by profession and three fifths by 
letter. Through dismission and death, over one hundred and 
seventy names had been dropped from the rolls, so that the 
membership was about two hundred and eighty.* 

*The clerks were: A. H. Parker, 1844-9; W. N. Peirce, 1850-56; C. 
F. W.Parkhurst, 1857-8; C. L. Swan, 1859-65. The clerks of the Society 
were: William Eaton, 1844-47; H. A Pollard, 1847-48; W. W. Parker, 
1848-55; C. F. W. Parkhurst, 1855-59; D. W. Kilburn, 1859-65; W. E. 
Parkhurst, 1865. 

Among the names most prominent for service, as given m the church 
records, we find in order of mention those of J. B. Parker, Levi Hough- 
ton, Haskell McCollom, Hiram Morgan, A. H. Parker, Anson Lowe, C. 
K. Sawyer, Ira G. Childs, James Orr, H. N. Bigelow, G. W. Wakefield. 
Levi Greene, Alvan Hall, James Patterson, J. D. Otterson, William Orr, 

B. R. Smith, Chas. Jewett, W.W. Parker, Gilbert Greene, A. R. Marshall. 

C. H. Morgan, William Malcolm, D. W. Kilburn, C. L. Swan, G. W. 
Perry, Waldo Winter, Amos Stearns, Edwin Andrews, H. C. Kendrick. 

Among other names that have not been prominently mentioned, there 



THE LADIES' BENEVOLENT SOCIETY. 461 

Jasper Howe was for many years a leader of the choir 
and the musical center of the society. He was born in Hol- 
den in 1827. He learned the trade of boot making, but on 
coming to Clinton in 1852, entered the Carpet Mills, where 
he has so long been an overseer. Before his coming hither, 
his brother, E. W. Howe, had been interested in the church 
music. 

The Ladies' Benevolent Society connected with the Con- 
gregational Church held its first meeting May 16, 1844, at 
the house of H. N. Bigelow. The meeting was adjourned 
until May 29th, when a constitution was adopted and the 
society organization completed. The preamble to the con- 
stitution states: '■ Impressed with a sense of our obligation 
to that Being from whom we receive all our blessings, both 
spiritual and temporal, and realizing our accountability for 
the improvement of the talents committed to us, we would 
form ourselves into an association for the purpose of social 
and moral instruction, that we may be prepared to discharge 
faithfully our duties to ourselves, our fellow creatures and 
our God." 

The following board of officers was chosen: Mrs. Polly 
Bigelow, president; Mrs. Betsy Stone, vice-president; Eme- 
line Jewett, secretary; Eliza Sawyer, Emily Bigelow, Eliza J. 
B. Eaton, directors; Susan Parker, treasurer. Twenty-three 
gentlemen and thirty-five ladies became members during the 
first year. Twenty-three meetings were held at the house of 
various members. The attendance varied from two to sixty. 

The proceeds of the society from the time of its organi- 
zation were largely given to benevolent purposes. Some of 
them passed through the hands of the American Home Mis- 
sionary Society. Occasionally, the ladies found cases of 



appear on the books of the society those of W. T. Merrifield, J. R. Stew- 
art, E. W. Goodale, N. A. Boynton, Jonas Hunt, J.T. Sawyer, G. H. Ken- 
dall, Jason Gorham, J. T. Dame, E. B. Frost, J. H. Vose, Jeremiah Fiske, 
J. R. Robinson, A. E. Bigelow, A. C. Dakin, W. H. Haskell, Henry Eddy. 



462 FIRST EVANGELICAL CHURCH. 

poverty inside of their own community, and in all such cases 
gave the needed relief. Yet they were provident and laid 
by a part of their income to be devoted, when an emergency 
should arise, to some special purpose. At times, those who 
entertained the society were too liberal in their provision for 
supper, and it was voted in 185 1; "But one kind of cake 
should be provided, * * * and whoever should provide more, 
should pay a fine of fifty cents." Any lady who wished to 
work upon her own sewing at the society meetings was 
allowed to do so on condition that she "paid six and a quar- 
ter cents." 

Until 1853, the records of the society were made for the 
most part by Mrs. M. B. Carleton and Mrs. Emily Parker. 
In the latter year, the society vvas apparently in a very pros- 
perous condition and had ninety-one names on its rolls, but 
for some reason no further records of the proceedings were 
kept until October i, 1857, when the society was reorganized. 
There was much need of charitable offerings in our com- 
munity during the " Hard Times," and the society did all in 
its power to help the poor at home, besides sending clothing 
to a home mission station in the West. 

The next year, the fitting up of the new church de- 
manded the special attention of the society. Cushions and 
carpets were provided, and thus all the accumulated funds, 
five hundred and fifty-seven dollars and twelve cents, were 
expended. H. N. Bigelow's generosity in helping to furnish 
the carpet saved the society from a heavy debt. As soon as 
the building was finished, the ladies held their meetings in a 
room which had been fitted up for them in the vestry. 

January 23, 1862, a box of hospital stores which had been 
prepared during the preceding weeks, was forwarded to the 
seat of war. Although the Clinton Soldiers' Aid Society, 
which was composed of ladies from the town as a whole, did 
most of the work for the relief of suffering caused by the 
war, yet there were some cases where the relief could be best 
given by the benevolent societies of the churches. In all 



THE LADIES' BENEVOLENT SOCIETY. 



463 



such cases there was a ready response. The excitement, 
the anxiety and the sorrow which prevailed throughout the 
community during the war, lessened the attendance at the 
society meetings. As soon as the war was over, however, 
the attendance increased again and the society entered upon 
a new career of usefulness.* 



* Officers of Congregational 


Benevolent Society from 1844-65, as far 


as recorded. 






Presidents. 


Secretaries. 


Mrs 


. H. N. Bigelow. 


Emeline Jewett. 






J. M. R. Eaton. 


Mrs. A. S. Carleton. 






Hiram Morgan. 








Wm. H. Corning. 


Mrs. W. W. Parker. 






J. B. Parker. 








B. R. Smith. 


Mrs. G. H. Kendall. 






C. W. Worcester. 


Mrs. J. T. Dame. 






C. G. Stevens. 


Miss L. S. Morgan. 






W. W. Winchester. 


Miss H. M. Haskell. 






E. Harris. 


Miss C. L. Pevey. 






J. B. Parker. 


Mrs. D. W. Kilburn. 






C. L. Swan. 


Miss L. J. Derby. 






S. Judkins. 


Miss H. S. Kendrick. 






Gilbert Greene. 


Miss A. W. Goodale. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF CLINTON. 

Among those who lived within the present limits of 
Clinton in the first quarter of the nineteenth century there 
were several earnest Baptists. Four of these, Charles Chace, 
Charles Chace, Jr., Levi Howard and John Burdett, belonged 
to the Baptist Church in Harvard. They and their friends 
of the evangelical persuasion may have held meetings 
here for religious worship in accordance with their beliefs, 
long before there was any attempt to organize a society 
in this community. In i8i6, when the "New Brick Church" 
was being built, and the people began to grumble about the 
consequent taxes, those who wanted Baptist preaching saw 
their opportunity to organize a society for that purpose. A 
constitution was prepared, which was signed both by those 
who wished for Baptist worship for its own sake and by 
those who wished to belong to an organization supported by 
subscriptions rather than pay large church taxes. The 
following document is self-explanatory: 

"March i8th, 1816. 

"We, the subscribers, being of the denomination of 
Christians called Baptists, maintaining the sentiments held 
by the Warren Association and being desirous of supporting 
the said denomination, do associate, engage and covenant, to 
support the articles hereafter subjoined : Viz. 

"Art. I. We voluntarily, and in the fear of the Lord, 
with the sincere hope thereby of promoting the cause of our 



THE FIRST SOCIETY. 465 

blessed redeemer in the world, do form ourselves into a 
Religious society by the name of the Baptist society in 
Lancaster, Ms., to be composed of such members as shall 
from time to time voluntarily join themselves to, and con- 
gregate with us and conform to such regulations for the due 
observance of order as the majority may establish. 

"Art. 2nd. Such Monies as we shall from time to time 
agree to raise for the support of Preaching either by sub- 
scription, or otherwise, shall be appropriated according to 
the major vote of the Society, it being restricted to the 
support of Preachers of the Baptist denomination approved 
by the Church or Church Members." 

Then follow articles on the annual meeting to be held in 
March or April, and the choosing of clerk, treasurer and a 
standing committee of three.* 

The first meeting of the society was held at the school- 
house in District No. 11, March 18, 1816. Elder Thomas 
Marshall acted as chairman and John Burdett, Jr., as clerk. 
The ofificers chosen in accordance with the constitution, 
were : Charles Chace, treasurer ; Cornelius Moore, Caleb 
Houghton and John Burdett, Jr., as committee. John Bur- 

*This constitution was signed by Cornelius Moore, Nathaniel Hast- 
ings, Charles Chace,* Joh7i Burdett* John Wilder, 2d, Caleb Houghton, 
James Fuller* Jonathan Ball, Stephen Sargent, William Ball, Silas 
Cutting, Paul Faulkner, Benjamin Larkin, William Larkin, Moses Chace, 
Nathan Burdett, Joel Dakin, Silas Houghton, John Wilder, jd, Abel 
Wilder, Jonathan Hastings, Alanson Chace,* William Bartlett, Charles 
Chace, Jr.* William Walker* Thomas T. Chapin, Henry Moore, 
Patie?tce Wilder, Oliver Moore, Josiah Rice,* Joseph Butler, Leonard 
Pollard, Emerson Bucklin, Samuel Dorrison, Daniel Willis, John Low, 
Nathaniel Loiv, Joel Peirce, FarnTiam Plummer, John Burdett, Jr. (after- 
wards a Methodist), Samuel Jacobs, Levi Howard,* Thomas Sargent,* 
Cyrus Houghton,* Jotham Holt, Amos D. Tucker, Charles Flagg, Zophar 
Fairbanks, John Gage, Samuel Gage, Daniel Gage. 

April 3, 1827, William S. Wilder. April 9, 1827, Abel Allen. April 
16, 1829, Abel Farwell. February 27, 1830, John Powers, Benjamin Holt.* 

Those starred are known to have been earnest Baptists ; those 
italicised, to have lived within present Clinton limits. 

31 



466 FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH. 

dett, Jr., acted as permanent clerk, although there is no 
record of his election. It was voted "that the Committee 
agree with Elder Luther Goddard to preach once in a month 
and with Elder Thomas Marshall once a month." As in the 
meeting held March 27, 1816, there is mention made of 
"last year's subscription paper," it may be supposed that 
services had been held before this time, although there is no 
record of any definite organization. The next year, the 
same officers were chosen, and it was voted to hire but one 
minister. Elder Thomas Marshall was employed. 

The annual meeting of 1818, was held at the house of 
Charles Chace, and the subsequent annual meetings were 
held at the same place until 1829. Joshua Eveleth was hired 
to preach for the summer months of 1818, and received for 
fourteen "Lord's Days" thirty-five dollars, or two dollars 
and a half per day. 

In 1819, Caleb Houghton was made treasurer and Abel 
Wilder, clerk. John Burdett, Charles Chace and Abel 
Wilder were the committee. Elder Luther Goddard was 
hired as preacher for the spring and summer months, and 
"Mr." Benjamin Willard for the fall and winter. In August, 
1819, it was voted by the Harvard Baptist Church to have 
deacons in the "south part" to serve the church there when 
they shall have communion. Charles Chace, Jr., and Levi 
Howard were chosen deacons under this vote, and the 
organization here may be considered as a branch of the 
Harvard Church rather than as an independent organization. 
In 1821, James Fuller and Cornelius Moore took the 
place of Messrs. Burdett and Chace on the committee. In 
1822, Alanson Chace was clerk; Charles Chace, Jr. treasurer; 
Charles Chace, John Burdett and Cornelius Moore, com- 
mittee. In 1824, the officers remained the same, except that 
James Fuller took the place of Cornelius Moore on the 
committee. In 1825, there was no change, except that John 
Burdett became treasurer instead of Charles Chace, Jr. In 
1827, Levi Howard was made treasurer and Cornelius Moore, 



THE FIRST SOCIETY. 



467 



clerk. Levi Howard, John Burdett and Charles Chace were 
the committee. The price set for preaching this year was 
four dollars per day. In 1828, the officers were the same, 
except that William Ball took the place of Charles Chace on 
committee. During the next seven years, Levi Howard, 
Cornelius Moore and John Burdett held the offices of the 
society, except that Benjamin Holt became clerk in 1834. 
At this point, the record ceases. After 18 19, the names of 
the ministers hired are not recorded, but tradition recalls the 
names of Appleton, Archibald, Branch, Burbank, Fisher, the 
Morses, Sampson, Wakefield and Winthrop. 

The earlier meetings for worship were held in the school- 
house of District No. 11, but soon the private houses of 
Charles Chace and John Burdett were the special places of 
meeting. There are some yet living who can remember 
those old kitchen meetings where some twenty or thirty de- 
voted people gathered for worship. Those who attended 
services at the Brick Church were inclined to look down on 
these Baptists as a contrary-minded band of zealots, but the 
Baptists themselves felt that in these meetings they received 
spiritual nourishment such as they had before sought in 
vain. 

The following is taken from a record written by one 
who attended some of these meetings : " The house of our 
respected brother, John Burdett, was freely opened as a kind 
of sanctuary, and was easily filled by an attentive people 
willing to use pine boards for pews for the sake of enjoying 
the luxury of hearing 'the truth as it is in Jesus.' Preaching 
was supplied with a true-hearted and generous devotion to 
the cause of the Redeemer, partly by students and partly by 
fathers in the ministry. * * * The Holy Spirit was pleased to 
descend in approval of the labors and sacrifices of God's 
children, and a revival commenced. * * * In consequence 
of the revival and the removal to this place of individuals 
connected with various churches, it was found that a com- 
pany of Baptists numbering nearly thirty could be collected." 



468 FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH. 

Even after the society organization ceased to exist, meet- 
ings were held occasionally either at the house of John Bur- 
dett or at the "Tavern House " of Dea. Levi Howard. This 
Levi Howard had worked for Poignand & Plant and the Lan- 
caster Cotton Manufacturing Company while their factory was 
in operation. It is said that he was well educated and had 
studied medicine in his youth, although he had never prac- 
ticed. It may be safely asserted that there were never many 
consecutive months without Baptist services within present 
Clinton limits from 1816, or earlier, to the present time. 

When the Congregationalists determined to build their 
new meeting-house on Walnut Street, H. N. Bigelow, as a 
representative of the Congregationalists, urged the Baptists 
to begin worship in the chapel. At first, the Baptists, who 
had been worshiping up to this time with the Congregation- 
alists, doubted whether they were strong enough to support 
worship by themselves. But the enthusiasm of the Burdett 
family and the pecuniary assistance promised by Alanson 
Chace, decided the question in favor of immediate organiza- 
tion. 

Application for advice and assistance was made to Rev. 
Harvey Fitts, the state missionary. In answer to this appli- 
cation, the following letter was received by Dr. G. W. Bur- 
dett. 

"North Brookfield, December 15, 1846. 

"Dear Sir: — Yours of the loth inst. came duly to hand. 
I have often thought of Clintonville and have, more than 
once determined I would soon call there. I hope you had 
an encouraging meeting on Saturday evening. I have re- 
cently had intelligence that has led me to think that the time 
is not far distant when it will be found best to build should 
Providence favor the establishing of a Baptist meeting-house 
in your village. Still, it would be best, probably, to secure 
for the present the Congregationalist Chapel and to com- 
mence meetings as soon as that can be obtained. Engage it 



ORGANIZATION. 469 

for a few weeks with the refusal of it for a year or longer. 
I will try to be with you the first Sabbath of meeting. * * * 
May the Lord direct in all things. May indeed the good 
brethren in Clintonville be much in pra}'er, looking to God 
for his guidance and be prepared for rich blessings from 
heaven. Yours truly, 

H. FiTTS." 

A service was held on the first Sunday in January, 1847, 
in the brick school-house. Rev. George S. G. Spencer was 
invited to become the pastor of the few who thus gathered 
together, but he did not see his way clear to accept this in- 
vitation. Rev. Charles M. Bowers was then called and con- 
sented to serve. He began his labors in March at a salary 
of five hundred dollars. In accordance with his own desire 
he was never settled over the parish, but engaged from year 
to year through his long pastorate. 

Mr. Bowers was a native of Boston. He was born Janu- 
ary 10, 18 1 7. His father, Charles Bowers, was a merchant 
in that city. The son, Charles M. Bowers, fitted for college 
in the Boston Latin School. He graduated from Brown 
University in 1838. In 1870, he received the degree of D. D. 
from the same institution. He pursued his theological 
studies at Newton, graduating in 1841. He preached for 
some years at Lexington. When he came to Clintonville, he 
was in the prime of his youthful manhood and had already 
established a reputation for ability as a preacher and pastor, 
for unworldliness, for intense earnestness in all matters 
pertaining to morality and good citizenship, and for com- 
plete devotion to the work of his Master. He married Ellen 
Augusta Damon. He built a house on the southeast corner 
of Water and Walnut Streets in 1847-8. This house was 
burned in 1872, but was immediately replaced by another. 
Mr. Bowers had one daughter and five sons who reached 
maturity. Three of the sons are now living in Clinton. 
Another, Arthur F., is city editor of the New York Tribune. 

Turning to the introduction to the records of the churchi 



470 



FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH. 



written by Dr. G. W. Burdett, as clerk, we read: "The aban- 
donment by our Orthodox friends of their chapel, where for 
more than a year they had very successfully sustained preach- 
ing, for a new house, opened the way for a vigorous and, as 
we hope, successful effort on the part of the Baptists to 
maintain the doctrines as once delivered to the saints. 
Favored with a good and attentive congregation, with a few 
conversions and a spirit of inquiry, and also with an encour- 
aging number of disciples in the Lord of our name and order, 
we have for some time felt specially called upon to provide 
a Gospel church as a means of combining in one those who 
love a pure illustration of the ordinances." 

At a meeting, called April 24, 1847, ^^ the chapel. Rev. 
C. M. Bowers was chosen moderator, and Dr. G. W. Burdett, 
clerk. After the reading of seventeen letters from other 
churches of the same denomination, it was voted: "That we 
whose letters of recommendation have now been presented 
and read, being desirous of giving some visible form in this 
place to the 'faith once delivered to the saints,' and cherish- 
ing full confidence in each other's Christian character, do 
hereby associate together in the faith and fellowship of the 
Gospel under the name of the First Baptist Church of Lan- 
caster." The seventeen thus voting were as follows: John 
Burdett, Sarah Burdett, Nathan Burdett, Jr., Mary E. Bur- 
dett, Thomas Burdett, Sara E. Burdett, George W. Burdett, 
Elizabeth J. Burdett, Frederick W. Burdett, Tamar Eddy, 
Otis H. Kendall, Mary W. Kendall, Polly Morgan, Abigail 
Morgan, Harriet Morgan, Oliver Stone, Lois M. Stone. 
Within a year, thirty-nine other members were added. At 
an adjournment of this meeting, held April 30th, Dr. G. W. 
Burdett was chosen clerk of the Church, an office which he 
continued to hold, with the exception of one or two years, 
until 1892. Oliver Stone was made treasurer. John Burdett 
was made deacon. It was not until a year later, that William 
Walker was made deacon. 

On the 20th of May, the Society organized, with Oliver 



ORGANIZATION. 471 

Stone as clerk and Lory F. Bancroft as treasurer. At an 
adjournment of this meeting, held June 4th, Alanson Chace, 
Samuel B. Pollard and George W. Burdett were made a pru- 
dential committee. During the first year, Frederick W. 
Burdett led the choir with his violin. After he removed'to 
Southboro, James A. Weeks became chorister, and the violin 
and bass viol gave way to the seraphine. 

On the 6th of June, the first baptism and the first com- 
munion service of the newly organized church occurred. 
During these early years, it was customary for the baptisms 
to take place at Coachlace Pond on the farm of Joseph Rice. 
July 8th, a council was held consisting of delegates from 
the Baptist churches of Sterling, Bolton, Harvard, West 
Boylston, Fitchburg and Leominster to consider the recog- 
nition of the church that had been organized as the First 
Baptist Church of Lancaster. The recognition service was 
held in the evening; Rev. Leonard Tracy of West Boylston 
gave the sermon. 

Such was the success of the society, that the chapel soon 
proved too small to hold the congregation comfortably. As 
early as August 23, 1847, ^ meeting of the church consid- 
ered the subject of building, and "voted to choose a com- 
mittee of seven to examine a location for a house, to procure 
a plan and make a probable estimate of the cost of a house." 
This committee consisted of Oliver Stone, Dea. John Bur- 
dett, N. C. Martin, W. S. Keyes, G. W. Burdett, Alanson 
Chace and S. B. Pollard. The society endorsed the action 
of the church and chose the same committee to solicit funds 
for building. It was many months after this, however, be- 
fore the building was begun, and many committees of vari- 
ous kinds were appointed. May, 26, 1848, the church passed 
resolutions expressing thanks to H. N. Bigelow "for his late 
liberal donation to this church and society, a piece of land 
on Walnut Street for a site for a church." Dea. George 
Cummings, a cotton manufacturer who made handkerchiefs 
for turbans, presented a gift to the society of a thousand 



472 FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH. 

dollars for the meeting-house, with the condition that it 
should be used for Baptist worship and should have three 
hundred sittings. This George Cummings was not a mem- 
ber of the society, but he had three sisters living in Lancas- 
ter who attended the church services. The meeting-house 
cost four thousand dollars without bell or furnishings; only 
about fourteen hundred dollars were contributed by members 
of the society, and with all the assistance received from out- 
side parties the society was left twenty-seven hundred and 
fifty dollars in debt. This debt hung over it with little dimi- 
nution until 1852, when Dea. George Cummings presented 
to the society fifteen hundred dollars, the amount of the 
note he held against it. The people of the parish, encour- 
aged by this munificent gift, raised enough by subscription 
to pay the rest of the debt. 

The meeting-house was dedicated with appropriate cere- 
monies, January 10, 1849. Before Clinton became a town in 
1850, the church had ninety members. It has since been 
known as the First Baptist Church of Clinton. Among those 
members who were received after the original seventeen and 
who afterwards became especially prominent in the affairs of 
the church and society, may be mentioned Rev. C. M. Bow- 
ers, William H. Gibson, N. C. Martin, Wright S. Keyes, 
George P. Smith. William Walker, Alfred A. Burditt, Orlando 
A. Smith, Benjamin Willard and Benjamin Ring. Many 
who were not Baptists attended their services, so that the 
new house was comfortably filled. Of those not in the 
church, whose names are found most often in the transac- 
tions of the society or on the subscription lists may be men- 
tioned Alanson Chace, Lory F. Bancroft, S. B. Pollard, 
Charles Ryan and Dr. G. W. Symonds. 

L. B. Tinkham succeeded J. A. Weeks as chorister, and 
was in turn followed by O. A. Smith, David Wallace, W. H. 
Putnam, H. G. O. Hooker, Daniel Marsh, W. A. Macurda, 
M. C. Healey, C. W. Moore and Birney Mann. 

The Baptist Society of Clinton has always been preemi- 



LADIES SEWING CIRCLE. 473 

nently social and benevolent in its nature. Warmth of heart 
characterized the people as well as the pastor. This social 
spirit found its expression in the Sabbath greetings and in 
the prayer meetings where all were made to feel that they 
were surrounded by personal friends. All tried to satisfy 
each others needs. It was felt by the pastor in 1848, that 
while this social and charitable spirit should continue to pre- 
vail through all the work of the church, it would be well to 
have it fostered by the ladies in a department peculiarly 
their own. Hence, under the leadership of Mrs. G. W. Bur- 
dett, the "Ladies' Sewing Circle" was formed. Mrs. C. M. 
Bowers was the first president. Mrs. Alanson Chace was 
vice-president, and Mrs. G. P. Smith, secretary and treasurer. 
There were forty-two members. The aims of the organiza- 
tion are stated in a constitution which was first recorded 
in 1857. "Believing that in properly conducted social gath- 
erings whereby we may form a more intimate acquaintance, 
we may receive both pleasure and profit, by the improve- 
ment of our social, intellectual and moral faculties and 
thereby advance the cause of morality and religion, both by 
the cultivation of Christian sympathy and fellowship and by 
furnishing aid to some benevolent object: we, the under- 
signed, do form ourselves into a society." The society has 
amply fulfilled the purpose for which it was organized. It 
has been productive of "good times" in the highest sense of 
the word, and has also exerted a wide-spread influence as a 
charitable organization. 

The story of the Baptist Church from the incorporation 
of the town to 1865, contains no startling features. Rev. C. 
M. Bowers remained as a pastor. He did not serve the 
church and society alone, but the community as a whole felt 
the inspiration which came from his devoted life and active 
citizenship. The sick were cheered by his presence, mourn- 
ers were comforted, sleeping consciences were awakened, 
noble endeavors were encouraged, while year after year the 
special work of the church went on and many souls were 



474 FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH. 

gathered into the spiritual fold. No man ever cared less for 
his salary than Mr. Bowers. It was raised from time to time 
until it was eight hundred dollars in 1857. Owing to the 
hard times of that year, the pew rents came in very slowly, 
and Mr. Bowers asked that for the next year his salary 
might be reduced. The society responded by paying him 
the same salary and by raising it the next year to nine 
hundred. Again in 1862, in 1863 and in 1866, he refunded a 
considerable portion of his salary against the will of his 
parishioners. But it made little difference what he was paid, 
since his purse was always open to the needy, and every 
worthy public enterprise was sure of his hearty support. 
With his tender sympathies, he united intense convictions, so 
that he was always among the foremost in advocating the 
great reforms of the day. No voice sounded more fervently 
than his the call to serve the country when the storm of war 
burst over our land, and no one was chosen so often as he to 
say the last words for those who had fallen. 

He was deeply interested in every movement for the 
progress of the community. He served on the school com- 
mittee of District No. 10 for two years, on the general school 
committee of Lancaster for one year, and for eleven years, 
on the school committee of Clinton. This period of service 
exceeds that of any other citizen during the time with 
which our history properly deals. In this office, he showed 
the same keenness of insight, the same progressive spirit 
and the same warmth of heart which characterized him in 
his chosen profession. His report for the year ending 
March 6, 1862, for instance, calls for a system similar to the 
kindergarten, long before the educators of the country took 
any steps in this direction. Mr. Bowers was the successful 
candidate of the Republican party for a seat in the state 
legislature in the closing year of the war. He was elected 
again the following year as an independent candidate in- 
dorsed by Clinton Republicans. Few ministers have been 
better fitted for such a position, for, to sound common sense 



THE DEACONS. 475 

and native wit, he united a most thorough acquaintance with 
the questions of the day and the most intense patriotism. 

We have already noted that John Burdett was elected 
deacon of the church as soon as it was organized. He died 
August 14, 18156, after working for the Baptist faith in Lan- 
caster for more than half a century. In a church letter 
written a short time after, we read : "Most sorely did we 
weep when the good man died — not that we doubted his 
future reign with God whom he worshiped here — but we 
wept that we should see his face no more — that we should 
receive no more counsel from his holy lips — but more than 
all this, we wept because the sinner had lost a faithful friend, 
for there was no one among us who recommended the 
religion of Christ so earnestly to ungodly men." 

William Walker, who became deacon April 30, 1848, died 
March 7, 1853. He is spoken of in the church manual as a 
man of "sterling character," and "true christian principle." 
William H. Gibson, who was chosen deacon March, 185 1, 
died October 16, 1866, after being connected with the church 
as one of its most devoted and faithful members for nearly 
a score of years. George P. Smith was elected deacon 
September 3, 1852, and May 6, 1854, but declined to serve in 
both cases. Being elected again, however, December 4, 

1857, he served until his resignation, May ig, 1865. He was 
admitted to the church by letter from Nashua, N. H., January 
2, 1848. He received a letter of dismission to the church in 
Bricksburg, N. J., May 4, 1868. He was a man of large 
means and generous heart, and was, during the twenty years 
he remained connected with the society, one of its most 
liberal supporters and active workers. The communion 
service now in use in the church was his gift. Benjamin 
Ring served as deacon from May 6, 1854, until August 6, 

1858, when he received a letter of dismissal to join the 
church in Addison, N.Y. Joshua Thissell, Jr., John G. Heigh- 
way, Daniel B. Ingalls and Henry C. Greeley were chosen 
deacons May 29, 1867. The story of their devoted service 



476 FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH. 

to the church and society must be left for the future 
historian.* 

In the early days of the Civil War, steps were taken 
toward enlarging or rebuilding the meeting-house, but the 
depression and doubt that filled the minds of men at the 
time, rendered it expedient to postpone action to a later 
date. Soon after the war was over, on the 3d of October, 
1866, the subject was taken up again. Deacon George 
Cummings offered the society " to pay one-half of all the 
expense of altering and enlarging the meeting-house, pro- 
vided the society should accept the offer immediately." Of 
course the offer was accepted, and a committee which event- 
ually consisted of Joshua Thissell, Wilson Morse, H. C. 
Greeley, Oliver Stone, Alanson Chace, D. B. Ingalls, G. P. 
Smith, G. W. Burdett and A. A. Burditt were chosen to look 
after the building. The work was pushed forward so that it 
was finished ready for dedication by February, 1868. The 
total cost as reported by the building committee was eight 
thousand four hundred and three dollars and ninety-three 
cents. The organ cost sixteen hundred more, and the money 
spent for furnishing brought the total up to about eleven 
thousand. Most of this was paid at the time, but a debt of 
three thousand dollars was left for some years. This addition 
of twenty-seven feet to the west side increased the number 
of pews by thirty-eight, so that the new building was capable 
of seating five hundred and twenty people. A new spire 
was built about the old one, twenty feet higher than that had 
been. A baptistry, a pastor's room, a "ladies' room," an en- 
larged vestry, and frescoing were among the improvements. 
The Bible now on the preacher's pulpit was at this time 
given by Mrs. Horatio S. Burdett of Brookline; the com- 
munion table was given by J. W. Converse of Boston. The 
dedication took place on the 6th of February. 

* The history of the Baptist Church is extended somewhat beyond 
that of the other churches in order that the work of Rev. C. M. Bowers 
may be considered as a unit. 



RELIGIOUS INTEREST. 



477 



Even with the enlarged accommodations, the meeting- 
house was comfortably filled, for previous to its completion 
five hundred and sixteen members had united with the 
church since its organization. Of these, about half had died 
or moved away before this time, yet an active membership 
of more than two hundred and fifty was left. Among those 
who had joined the church during this period the names of 
the following appear frequently in the records of the church 
and society: Charles W. Walker, 1853; Joshua Thissell, T. 
F. Sibley, D. B. Ingalls, H. C. Greeley, Lucius Field, W. A. 
Macurda and John G. Heighway, 1857; S. H. Hosmer, 1858; 
Daniel Marsh, 1864; T. A. Leland, B. S. Walker, 1866; E. 
W. Burdett, G. A. Heighway, Abial Fisher, 1867. There 
were doubtless many others, both male and female, the 
equals of these in spiritual gifts, whose names do not so 
often appear on the records of the church and society. 

While baptisms were of frequent occurrence during all 
these years, there were four periods when the religious 
interest was deeper than usual. These were in 1850-51, 
1857, 1861 and 1867. The sacrament of baptism in the 
sixties was administered a few rods north of the Harris 
Bridge over Water Street. The Courant says that at one 
immersion in 1867 there were fifteen hundred people 
gathered to witness the solemn rites. 

These additions to the church through conversion came 
largely from the Sunday School, which was from the begm- 
ning cherished by the church as the source of its growth. 
Among the superintendents who labored here most effi- 
ciently in early years, we may mention G. P. Smith, H. C. 
Greeley, A. A. Burditt, Daniel Marsh, Dr. D. B. Ingalls and 
Joshua Thissell. In 1854, the average attendance had 
reached about one hundred. In 1866, it was about one 
hundred and fifty. The church has always been deeply in- 
terested in missions, and has given a large proportion of the 
receipts to this purpose. Mrs. Bowers has been especially 
devoted to this work. 



^78 FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH. 

In 1866, Dr. Bowers' salary was increased to one thousand 
dollars; the next year, to twelve hundred. In 1871, he had 
a vacation of eight months for needed rest. The society, 
with the liberal aid of Caleb T. Symmes of Lancaster, paid 
his expenses for a trip to Europe and the Holy Land. He 
left New York on the seventeenth of January, and went as 
far east as Damascus. When he returned refreshed to his 
labors, at the request of the church he delivered a series of 
lectures on his travels. During his absence, the pulpit was 
filled by Rev. David Weston, principal of Worcester 
Academy. 

In 1872, the twenty-fifth anniversary of the organization 
of the church and of Dr. Bowers' pastorate, was observed. 
The services were held at the meeting-house on the twenty- 
fourth of April. In the afternoon, there were among other 
exercises, a sermon by J. D. Fulton, D. D., of Boston, and a 
historical sketch of the church by the pastor. In this sketch 
he said, as reported by the Courant : "During its history, 
the church has not been called to great troubles, trials or 
conflicts; the choir have behaved handsomely; the deacons 
have conducted themselves discreetly ; the sextons have not 
magnified their office above measure; and harmony has pre- 
vailed. The union of pastor and people has been of lengthy 
duration. * * * Ours is a small, quiet people, not given to 
discontent and change. Few pastors have been settled on 
such un.settled conditions. Although the prolonged court- 
ship has not resulted in marriage, the parties have been 
engaged and re-engaged more than a score of times, yet 
each is still on its good behavior. Only one other Baptist 
pastorate in Massachusetts has extended over a longer 
period of time." In speaking of the fruits of his labors, he 
said: "During the existence of the church, there have been 
six hundred different members connected with it, four hun- 
dred of which number have been added by baptism." 

In the evening there was a supper at which Dr. G. W. 
Burdett, who had served with little interruption as the clerk 



TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 



479 



of the church since its origin, presided as toastmaster. 
Many who had been connected with the church in the past, 
but had moved elsewhere, as well as those who still kept up 
their connection, recalled their experiences. The pastors of 
the local churches added their words of cheer. The joy of 
the occasion was heightened by the announcement that 
money enough had been raised to pay the church debt of 
three thousand dollars, and that the surplus in the treasury 
was suf^cient to present a well-filled purse to the pastor. 
"Thus ended," in the words of the record, "one of the 
most interesting occasions ever enjoyed by the church and 
the like to which in all its features can hardly ever be 
enjoyed again." 

But the work of the pastor was by no means finished. 
For fourteen years longer he continued to serve the church 
and people. He retained the vigor of his youth and united 
with it the experience of age. His final sermons as pastor 
were preached March 28, 1886. He had kept up the custom 
of an afternoon service as well as a morning service, after it 
had been abandoned in the other churches, on the ground that 
if anybody desired to hear an afternoon sermon there should 
be an opportunity to do so. He averaged at least two ser- 
mons a week during his ministry, or preached about four 
thousand sermons in all in Clinton, and perhaps five thousand 
in his ministry as a whole. This total amount of his pulpit 
production would equal fifty or more volumes of the size of 
this history. 

After he resigned his position here in 1886, he continued 
his ministry, acting as pastor over the Baptist church in 
Spencer until he had completed in all more than half a 
century of service. Dr. Bowers is still living in Clinton, in 
1896, and during the past year has several times occupied 
his old pulpit. The fruits of this long ministry are beyond 
all earthly reckoning. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

Henry Lewis, who came to this community in 1815, as 
an apprentice at comb-making for Nathan Burdett, became 
in after years, an earnest Methodist. His house on North 
Main Street was freely opened for Methodist meetings, and 
there for many years a little band of devout Christians were 
accustomed to gather at stated intervals, or whenever any 
special opportunity was offered of hearing the gospel 
preached. It is said that John H. Hall, a layman from 
Albany, New York, was the first to organize a class and 
preach here. This class numbered forty-one members and 
continued in existence for two or three years during the 
early thirties. Many of its members made great sacrifices 
to attend Methodist services elsewhere after the class was 
given up. 

Among those who preached at the occasional services 
from 1834 to 1842, were: Rev. E. F. Newell, called Father 
Newell, who, after sixty-one years of preaching, died in 1867, 
at the age of ninety-one; Rev. Joseph A. Merrill, who began 
preaching in 1807; and Rev. Orin Scott. John Burdett, Jun- 
ior, became as devout as a Methodist as his father was as a 
Baptist, and in these early days was among the foremost in 
the support of this form of worship. 

In the autumn of 1842, the Methodists secured the use of 
the Brick School-house on Main Street for their Sunday 
services. Here, Rev. Joseph W. Lewis, who was then sta- 
tioned in West Boylston, preached. This Rev. J. W. Lewis 



THE BEGINNINGS. 481 

was in i868-g, regularly stationed here as pastor, and passed 
the closing years of his life in town. There was so much 
opposition to the use of the school-house for these meetings 
that, after two weeks, they were held in private houses. As 
the number of Methodists increased with the growing popu- 
lation of the community, the meetings became more frequent 
and regular. In 1847, Rev. Horace Moulton preached here 
at the house of Mr. Coburn. Later, Rev. D. K. Merrill of 
West Boylston organized a society. The following are the 
names of the original charter members of the Clinton Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church: Henry Lewis and wife, Charles B. 
Sherman and wife, Leonard B. Tinkham and wife, Mary A. 
Harris. Mary A. Harris Butler is now living in New Hamp- 
shire. She is eighty-two years old. Revs. C. W. Ainsworth 
and Gardner Rice each preached here a few times. Class- 
meetings were held at Charles B. Sherman's near the bridge 
on Water Street opposite the Quilt Mill, and at L. B. Tink- 
ham's on Nelson Street. The dining-rooms at the boarding- 
house in East Village were also used for services. Miss S. 
Hemmenway, who kept one of the boarding-houses, acted 
for a while as the leader of a class which met with her. In 
February, 1850, George E. Harrington came to Clintonville 
from Lunenburg. He opened a grocery store in the base- 
ment of Burdett's Block at the corner of High and Union 
Streets. He was a Methodist, and so effectual were his 
labors and so inspiring his influence that it soon became 
desirable to form a second class. He was the leader in sing- 
ing among the Methodists while here. Mr. Harrington 
moved to the West some years later, and lived in Madison, 
Wisconsin. 

Rev. Philip Toque, a local preacher, was sent by Rev. 
Phineas Crandall, then presiding elder of the Worcester dis- 
trict, to preach in Clinton, in November, 1850. The services 
were held in the hall of Burdett's Block, at the corner of 
High and Union Streets, then known as the Attic Hall. At 
this time, a Sunday School was organized. George E. Har- 



482 METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

rington was the first superintendent. In George H. Foster, 
who came here in 1850 and worked for Dea. James Patter- 
son, and was then in the loom harness and belt business for 
himself, the denomination found another faithful and influ- 
ential member. In January, 1851, George H. Foster, George 

E. Harrington and James Sherman were appointed stewards. 
Rev. George Bowler, who had been admitted to the New 

England Conference in 1849, was sent to Clinton in the 
spring of 185 1. Such was the growth of the society that a 
larger audience room was needed, and the Concert Hall in 
John Burdett's building opposite the site of the present 
Methodist Church, was hired. During the single year of 
Mr. Bowler's pastorate, more than ninety joined the church 
on probation. A church building had now become a neces- 
sity, as Concert Hall no longer accommodated the congre- 
gation. There was some talk of building near the Common 
in the vicinity of the other Protestant churches, and H. N. 
Bigelow is said to have offered the society a lot of land on 
condition that it would do so, but it seemed best at the time 
that the church should be nearer the business center, "so 
that sinners couldn t dodge the means of grace," as Rev. 
George Bowler is reported to have said. The present site 
of the church building was therefore purchased. The price 
was five hundred dollars. The first board of trustees was 
appointed October 5, 1851. The members were: Jonathan 
Weeks, George E. Harrington, Leonard B. Tinkham, George 

F. Goodale (secretary), Mark Andrews, Estes Wilson (treas- 
urer), Francis A. Davidson. The Ladies' Benevolent Asso- 
ciation was organized in 1851. Mrs. Bowler was the presi- 
dent during the first year. 

In the spring of 1852, Rev. George Bowler was appointed 
to the church in Watertown. He was a very stirring man. 
He talked and preached with great vigor. In 1852-3, he 
served on the school committee. He carried from Clinton, 
as the Courant said, "the esteem of all with whom he had 
been associated here." He afterwards preached in East 



JAMES F. MAYNARD AND WIFE. 483 

Cambridge, Charlestown and Westfield. He withdrew from 
connection with the New England Conference in 1862-3. 

It was during Rev. George Bowler's pastorate here in 
185 1 that James F. Maynard came to Clinton from Boylston 
and opened a grocery store. During the next thirty years 
of the history of the church, Mr. and Mrs. Maynard were 
among the foremost in every good work. In the funeral 
sermon preached by Rev. Albert Gould on the death of Mrs. 
Maynard, May 21, 1882, we find the following picture: "A 
beautiful symbol of her life as a helpmeet to her husband and 
a help to the church occurred in 1852, when the church edifice 
was built Those were the days when our people were not 
only few here, but they were in great poverty. * * * Brother 
Maynard was confined to his store in the day-time and part 
of the evenings, and could therefore do no work in the build- 
ing of the church unless it was done in the night after leav- 
ing the store. It was the time when they were putting in 
the foundation walls. When the store was closed for the 
night, he came here to work, * * * and his faithful wife was 
wont to stand near by him, holding a lantern so he could 
see how to Lay the stones. That lantern in the hand of 
Sister Maynard, pouring its light upon the foundation stones 
as they went into their places by night, is a beautiful symbol 
of her life as related to that of her husband and also to the 
history of the church. Her light has been steadily shining 
within the walls ever since, a loving reminder of duty and a 
guide to its performance." Mrs. Maynard was especially 
devoted in her personal attention to the sick and the poor, 
while Mr. Maynard was one of the trustees of the society for 
many years after May, 1852, and was for eleven years, begin- 
ning in 1854, superintendent of the Sabbath School. In the 
first year of his superintending, the first Sunday School 
Library was bought at a cost of thirty-six dollars and thirty- 
two cents. 

Although the building of a church edifice was planned 
during the pastorate of Rev. George Bowler, the actual work 



484 METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

of building was done during the following summer while 
Rev. T. Willard Lewis was stationed here. The pastor, with 
George E. Harrington and Francis' A. Davidson, constituted 
the building committee. The cost was four thousand dollars. 
The work was completed by December, and the dedication 
services were held on Christmas, 1852. Daniel Wise, D. D., 
of Boston, editor of Zion's Herald, gave the sermon. 

T. Willard Lewis was a native of South Royalston. He 
was born August 6, 1825. He was converted in 1842. He 
went to Fitchburg the same year to learn the scythe-maker's 
trade, and there he joined the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
In 1844, he began his studies preparatory to entering the 
ministry. In this, he was entirely dependent on his own ex- 
ertions for support. He fitted for college in Wilbraham 
Academy, and then spent two years at Union College, N. Y. 
He did not graduate, but received in after years the honor- 
ary degree of M. A. He was licensed as a preacher in Sche- 
nectady in 1847. Having joined the New England Confer- 
ence, he was appointed to Leicester in 1849, where he stayed 
two years. His next pastorate was in Hopkinton. Here, 
his wife died. He came to Clinton in the spring of 1852. 
During his first year here, his duties as the head of the build- 
ing committee were added to his regular pastoral duties. 
He also built the house in the rear of the church as a parson- 
age and, as he married a second time in 1853, he was the 
first to occupy it. During his second year in Clinton, he 
acted as secretary of the school committee. One who knew 
him well has said of him: "Brother Lewis was endowed with 
a warm, tender heart, a large and active imagination and a 
good, sound judgment. * * * He was eminently social. * * 
Most people as they passed would pause and go off with 
grateful imagination, ever after remembering the man as a 
friend and brother. * * * He was an interesting preacher, 
seldom profound and never dull. Narration and description 
suited his power of invention more than abstraction or dis- 
cussion. Some new comparison or witty remark would sur- 



REV. T. WiLLARD LEWIS. 4^^ 

prise the hearer. * * * 'A lion cannot fight in a bag.' 'Let 
the children have a hen of their own to lay eggs for the 
Lord.' * * * He depended on the sympathy of his hearers. 
* * * He enjoyed to see their smiles or better their tears, to 
hear shouts and sobs." After leaving here in 1853, he had 
appointments in Marlboro, Waltham, Boston, South Boston, 
Hopkinton and Worcester. 

In 1863, he took charge of the missions of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church in South Carolina and Florida. We are 
told: "The work he laid out for himself * * * is prodigious 
to contemplate." Church after church was organized. In 
eight years, he saw the membership of his conference in 
Florida alone increase from nothing to thirty thousand with 
eighty-eight churches. He founded the Claflin University. 
Later, when he was in Charleston, 'his work was prosecuted 
with such unfaltering energy, that his colleagues in labor 
could with the utmost difficulty persuade him to abandon 
the fever-stricken cit)'.' When at last he was forced to go it 
was too late to save his life. He died at Sullivan's Island, 
September 30, 1871. 

"And many a poor man's blessing went 
With him beneath the low green tent 
Whose curtain never outward swings." 

In 1854, Rev. Augustus F. Bailey received the appoint- 
ment to Clinton. He had previously served the churches in 
Ballardville, Gloucester Parish and Topsfield. He remained 
in Clinton for only one year and then preached successively 
in Marblehead, Dedham, Townsend, Marlboro, Newton Up- 
per Falls and Natick. He was elected as a member of the 
school committee for 1855-6, but, as he removed from town, 
he did not serve. In later years, he became a member of 
the Troy Conference. In this year of his pastorate, the 
society gained two valuable new members, John H. Rowell 
and Linus Fitts, both of whom were destined to serve the 
cause of Christ many years in this community. 

Rev. A. F. Bailey was followed by Rev. Newell S. Spauld- 



486 METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

ing, a man of many pastorates. He had entered the minis- 
try in 1822, and had received appointments to L3mdon, Vt., 
Lancaster, N. H., Mansfield, Mass., Little Compton, R. L, 
New London, Ct., Stonington, Ct., Warren, R. L, Somerset, 
Falmouth, Marblehead, Newbury, Ipswich, Topsfield, 
Saugus, Dorchester, Newton Upper Falls, Gloucester Har- 
bor, Salem, Ashburnham, Oxford, Saxonville, Sudbury, 
South Belchertown and Ware Village. He had been placed 
upon the "superannuated" list twice before he came to Clin- 
ton and, although he was but fifty-five, yet his health was 
broken. During his stay of two years, the membership of 
the society decreased, but, notwithstanding, the approaching 
hard times, a vestry was finished off for social meetings. A 
tenement was made in the basement of the church. After 
leaving here, Mr. Spaulding preached in Oakdale, Sutton 
and Gloucester. He was then in 1861 reckoned again as 
superannuated, but continued in the ministry at large until 
1884, when, after sixty-two years of faithful labor, he was 
called to his reward. 

In 1857, Rev. Daniel K. Merrill was placed over the 
church in Clinton. Although a much younger man than his 
predecessor, he was in poor health and had already been 
once placed on the superannuated list. He had preached in 
North Reading, East Boston, Salem, Winchendon, West 
Boylston, Dudley and Charlton, Rutland, Charlmont, East 
Longmeadow and Monson. After eight months' service 
here, his failing health forced him to seek rest. He was able 
on the following year to resume preaching, and served in 
later times in Jenksville, Coleraine, East Cambridge, Wal- 
tham, and Heath. 

Rev. Willard F. Mallalieu, a native of Sutton, who had 
graduated at Wesleyan University in the summer of 1857, 
filled out the remaining four months of the year. Even 
then, he gave ample promise of the ability which was to 
make him one of the leading men of his denomination. His 
qualities and life have been thus summarized: "Inheriting 



REV. WILLIAM J. POMFRET. 487 

intellectual vigor and fine moral qualities from Puritan and 
Huguenot ancestors, he sought the best gifts of culture, and 
uniting consecration and energy with eloquence and enthu- 
siasm, he has become a recognized power for good in every 
community he has served." He preached in Grafton; 
Bellingham Street, Chelsea; Lynn; Charlestown; Bromfield 
Street, Boston; Walnut Street, Chelsea; Worcester; Broad- 
way, Boston; Walnut Street, Chelsea; Bromfield Street, Bos- 
ton; Walnut Street, Chelsea. In 1882, he became presiding 
elder of the Boston District, and in 1884, was elected to the 
bishopric. His episcopal residence has been in New Orleans. 
During the present year (1896) it has been fixed in Boston. 

During 1858 and 1859, William J. Pomfret was pastor in 
Clinton. He was in the first years of his ministry. His only 
previous pastorate was in North Brookfield, from 1856 to 
1857. The hardness of the times required that the salary 
paid the pastor should be reduced from six hundred dollars 
to five hundred in 1858, but in the following year it was 
raised again to five hundred and fifty dollars. There was a 
slight increase in the membership of the church during the 
pastorate of Mr. Pomfret, and when he went away in i860, 
there were seventy-one names of members reported in the 
minutes of the New England Conference. He afterwards 
preached in West Brookfield, Coleraine, Ludlow, Williams- 
burg, Monson, Webster, Newton Upper Falls, Woburn, 
Marlboro, Fitchburg, Southbridge, West Quincy, West Med- 
ford. The average length of his pastorates has been greater 
than that of any other minister of the denomination who was 
stationed here previous to 1865. 

Rev. Thomas B. Treadwell, the next incumbent, entered 
the ministry in 1853, and came to Clinton in i860, after serv- 
ing in Marlboro, Saxonville, Woburn, Townsend and Monson. 
During the year in which he was here, the membership of 
the church was increased to eighty-six and fourteen more 
were on probation, The salary of the pastor was increased 
to five hundred and seventy-five dollars. In later times, Mr. 
Treadwell was in Charlton, Ct., and Weston. 



488 METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

E. P. Whittaker came to Clinton in i860, and at once be- 
came one of the most efficient members of the church. In 
later days, he served as trustee and as a superintendent of 
the Sabbath School. 

Rev. Albert Gould became pastor of the church in 1861. 
He was born in East Woodstock, Ct., February 21, 1832. 
His childhood and youth were spent on a farm in South- 
bridge, Mass. He was converted when about fifteen and 
joined the Southbridge church. An overpowering desire to 
become a foreign missionary took possession of him and he 
sought an education with this end in view. He went to Wil- 
braham in 1850, and to Wesleyan University in 1856. He 
remained in college two years. He entered the New Eng- 
land Conference in 1858. He first preached in South Royal- 
ston, where he married. "During the preaching of his first 
sermon in Clinton, the bells were rung to call the ladies 
together to fit out their brothers or sons for the war." Mr. 
Gould was one of the most patriotic clergymen of those try- 
ing times. Duty to country was often the theme of his dis- 
course. Many members of his society entered the army. 
Hence there was a decrease of membership. The society 
was very poor at this time, and it was only by the greatest 
self-sacrifice that even a meagre support could be given to 
the minister. No man could have been better fitted than 
Mr. Gould to keep up the heart of his people under such 
circumstances, for he was utterly unselfish and always in- 
clined to look at the bright side of things. His social nature 
led him to make many friends outside of his own society, 
and he thus gained the love of his fellow-townsmen as a 
whole. The fact that he was appointed to a second pas- 
torate in Clinton in 1882 makes evident the strength of the 
attachment which bound him to this society. 

All of those who have sat under his preaching will appre- 
ciate the truth of the following characterization which 
appeared in the minutes of the New England Conference at 
the time of his death: "Brother Gould was a man of com- 



REV. ALBERT GOULD. 489 

manding presence, but of pleasing address and of great 
social attractiveness. His manliness of character and the 
strength of his friendship bound him strongly to those who 
commanded his confidence. He loved truth and hated 
shams. His cultivated and thoughtful mind and sound judg- 
ment were devoted to the one work of Christian ministry. 
Deliberate in pulpit utterances, he was yet strong and som.e- 
times almost majestic in the fervor and power of his mighty 
argument, urgent appeal and persuasive tenderness. His 
love of music and his rare gift of song were of great service 
in his ministry. He was wise and judicious in administra- 
tion, a faithful pastor and successful in leading many into 
the fold of Christ." 

He held in all fifteen pastorates. Among the most im- 
portant of these were Lynn, Gloucester, Chicopee, Cam- 
bridge and Cambridgeport. He was acting as chaplain at 
the Deer Island Reformatory at the time of his sudden death, 
November 18, 1890. 

In 1863, Rev. J. P. W. Jordan was appointed to the Clin- 
ton church, but, as he did not serve, the pulpit was filled by 
Rev. John P. Coolidge who was on the superannuated list dur- 
ing this year, and Rev. William G. Leonard, who subsequently 
served as a chaplain in the army. In this year, the member- 
ship of the church went down to sixty-three, the amount of 
money raised for salary to four hundred and fifty dollars. 
The next year, the church was again unfortunate, since the 
appointee, Rev. J. N. Mars, who had just been admitted to 
the New England Conference on trial, failed to fulfil his ap- 
pointment, but was transferred to the Washington Confer- 
ence. Rev. E. F. Hadley supplied the pulpit. It is said 
that he afterwards died at Brooklyn. There seems to be no 
record that he was ever a member of the New England Con- 
ference. During this year, thirty-two were received into the 
church on probation, so that during the following year the 
membership reached ninety. Meanwhile the receipts of the 
church were estimated as only three hundred and thirt}'-five 
dollars. 



490 METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

In 1865, Rev. E. S. Chase, a young man who had preached 
only two years previously, one at North Brookfield and one 
at Warren, came hither. With his coming a new era of 
spiritual and financial prosperity began in the church. 

The story of most of the leaders in the church has been 
told in other connections, but the story of John H Rowell 
seems to belong here rather than elsewhere. John H. Row- 
ell was a native of Mason, New Hampshire, where he was 
born October 18, 1824. He was descended from the first 
settlers of the town. His father, Artemas Rowell, was a 
farmer. The boy worked on the farm and attended the dis- 
trict school. He moved to South Royalston, Mass., where 
he became a section-hand on the railroad. He married 
Hannah D. Lewis, a sister of Rev. T. W. Lewis, May 18, 
1848. He came to Clinton in 1854 as a section-hand on the 
Worcester and Nashua Railroad. He held this position for 
ten years. He then worked on the construction of the Bos- 
ton, Clinton and Fitchburg in the same capacity for two 
years. He was afterwards engaged in jobbing. He was a 
road commissioner for three j'ears, and superintendent of 
streets for four years. Since 1857, he has lived in the cot- 
tage back of the church which was built by his brother-in- 
law, Rev. T. W. Lewis. He has been a class leader. He 
was a trustee for about thirty years and a steward from 1854 
to the present time. The inquirer in regard to matters con- 
nected with the Clinton Methodists is constantly referred to 
Mr. Rowell, both by persons in his own society and outside 
of it, with the statement, "Mr. Rowell knows more about 
the church than anybody else. No one here has been con- 
nected with it longer or has loved it better or lived more 
closely according to its principles." 

No adequate idea of the history of the local Methodist 
Church can be reached unless one becomes intimately ac- 
quainted with the spiritual life as it has been manifested in 
the devotional meetings. While pastors were constantly 
changing there were many consecrated men and women 



DEVOTIONAL MEETINGS. 49I 

within the church who worshiped together with exhortation 
and prayer and song through many years until their souls 
became as one in the Lord. The fervor of those meetings 
cannot be told. Now, under the leadership of George E. 
Harrington or Daniel Houghton the song of praise burst in 
unison from every heart. Now, the voice of Brother Foster 
or Maynard or Rowell was heard, urging the sinner to turn 
from the error of his ways and seek the joys of salvation. 
Now, the prayers of Ephraim Hunt or Francis A. Davidson 
were rising to the throne of grace. Nor did the men alone 
give utterance to their spiritual emotions and aspiration ; 
the women, too, found voice as the spirit moved, with no 
less freedom. In addition to the wives of the members we 
have mentioned, Betsey Cutting, Mary Ann Eveleth, Lucy 
Sawyer, Betsey Flood and Carrie Bixby are remembered as 
women of great spiritual gifts. Here, in the devotional 
meetings was the real life of the church ; here, sorrow- 
stricken hearts found peace ; here, doubts were laid at rest ; 
here, souls were born anew. 

In a paper published at the twenty-fifth anniversary of 
the church, in 1877, the outline of the history of the church 
is summed up as follows: "This church, like all others, has 
experienced many vicissitudes in its history. Sometimes 
circumstances have been unfavorable and discouragements 
have seemed almost unsurmountable. But a few faithful, 
heroic ones pushed on amid the gathering gloom, till, with 
the blessings of the Lord, they came out of the cloud into 
the sunshine of prosperity." One whose position as presid- 
ing elder afforded him an opportunity for observation, said : 
"This society contains some of the most noble, liberal and 
self-sacrificing members that can anywhere be found. It 
has been noted from the commencement for the liberal and 
energetic ladies connected with it. But few instances can 
be found of equal devotion to the church and determination 
to sustain its institutions. 



CHAPTER XXX. 

THE FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH OF CLINTON. 

The Unitarian Church in Clinton is the child of the 
Unitarian Church in Lancaster, and as such may claim closer 
connection with the original ecclesiastical institutions of the 
mother town than either of our other churches. There was 
never a time from the first settlement within our borders to 
the establishment of the Unitarian Church in Clinton, when 
the pastor of the old church in Lancaster was not recog- 
nized as the pastor of a considerable portion of our people 
here, and the modification of the creed of the church did 
not cause many to withdraw until the coming of the 
Bigelows. When religious conviction and pecuniary advan- 
tage led to the establishment of other forms of worship, 
many yet continued to worship under Rev. E. H. Sears and 
Rev. G. M. Bartol in the old Brick Church. By 1850, services 
were held in Burdett Hall. These were conducted by Rev. 
George M. Bartol of Lancaster. Mr. Bartol was born at 
Freeport, Maine, September 18, 1820. He fitted for college 
at Exeter, N. H. He graduated from Brown University in 
1842, and at Cambridge Divinity School in 1845. ^^ came 
to Lancaster, and was installed August 4, 1847. He preached 
here in Clinton for a number of months, coming over after 
holding two services in his own church. He has remained 
in Lancaster for nearly half a century, and during all that 
time he has frequently exchanged with the Unitarian pastors 
of Clinton. He has also officiated at many funerals and 
weddings here, and has been so closely associated with the 



FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH. 



493 



life of our Unitarians, that he has seemed to many of its 
members as one of their own pastors. 

On July 29, 1850, a society was legally organized.* At 
this meeting, Ezra Sawyer was chosen moderator and 
Charles S. Patten, clerk. Ezra Sawyer, William Stearns and 
A. P. Burdett were chosen assessors and standing parish 
committee. Sidney Harris was made treasurer and collector. 
Steps were taken toward securing the use of Clinton Hall as 
a place for holding Sunday services. Franklin Forbes and 
C. W. Worcester were elected to act in conjunction with the 
standing committee in choosing a name for the society. At 
an adjournment of this meeting, held October 7th, it was 
voted to adopt the name, " First Unitarian Society of 
Clinton. "t Rev. G. M. Bartol was invited to preach on 
October 13th in the Clinton Hall, which had been hired at a 
rent of two hundred dollars per year. James A. Weeks had 
charge of the music. A seraphine was hired. From 
October 20th to April, the cost of preaching was two hun- 
dred and twenty dollars. 

April 7, 185 1, it was voted to invite Rev. Leonard Jarvis 
Livermore to preach for one year. His salary at first was 
ten dollars per Sunday, then at the rate of six hundred 
dollars a year, then at the rate of seven hundred dollars per 
year. It should be remembered that there were two regular 

*The members of this society were Ezra Sawyer, William F. Conant, 
Camden Maynard, William Stearns, Joshua C. Jewett, Nelson Whit- 
comb, Thomas Wellington, Henry Butterfield, Eliphas Ballard, Jr., H.N. 
Sweet, Augustus J. Sawyer, Simeon Bowman, Alfred Knight, Charles D. 
Dowse, Sidney Harris, Charles Holman, Jonas B. White, P'rederic Flagg, 
William E. Frost, John P. Merrill, Levi Harris, Charles Colburn, Charles 
S. Patten, J. W. Willard, James A. Weeks, Josephus Wilder, A. P. 
Burdett, A. L. Fuller and Franklin Forbes. 

t During the first year, the following gentlemen, in addition to those 
whose names have been given, were appointed on various committees: 
C. W. Blanchard, Aaron Weeks, James Needham, Joshua Thissell, B. R. 
Cotton, Edward E. Harlow, B. E. Sampson, Jerome S. Burdett, F. C. 
Messinger, John V. Butterfield. 



494 REV. LEONARD J. LIVERMORE. 

preaching services each Sunday at the Unitarian as well as 
all the other churches, during the whole period covered by 
our history. Mr. Livermore was born in Milford, New 
Hampshire, December 8, 1822. His grandfather, a clergy- 
man, and his father, a lawyer, were both graduates of 
Harvard. He followed in their footsteps, as his son did 
after him. Thus, in the course of one hundred and nineteen 
years, from 1756 to 1875, four successive generations studied 
in the same classic halls. Leonard J. Livermore received 
his diploma in 1842. He took a three years' course in the 
theological school, from which he graduated in 1846. The 
following year he was settled over the East Boston Unitarian 
Church, where he remained until he came to Clinton. While 
here, he built the main part of the house on Water street, 
since known as the Palmer house, and here he lived during 
the last years of his residence in Clinton. It is said that the 
house had originally belonged to his wife, and that it was 
taken to pieces and brought here and set up again. We 
have seen him as the editor of the Courant. He also served 
from 1853 to 1856 as a member of the school committee. 
At one time, he taught for a few weeks when an emergency 
demanded it. He was a man of large heart and very much 
beloved in his pastoral relations. Those who were children 
then recall how they used to love him and delight to visit 
his home. Few of our Clinton ministers have had such a 
wide acquaintance or exterted such a wholesome influence 
on the community at large. He was not especially brilliant 
as an orator. His theology was that of the old school Uni- 
tarians. He was "sound" and never erratic. His manner 
of delivery was quiet and sincere, and there was no straining 
after effect. Such was the depth of his reverence, the 
power and the charm of his presence, the benignity of his 
countenance and the visible purity of his character, that one 
of his parishoners said that it did him more good to see Mr. 
Livermore in the pulpit than to hear any other man preach. 
Rev. C. M. Bowers has said of him : " By social gifts, by 



FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH. 



495 



his courtesy, affability, spirit of helpfulness, ready fellowship 
and pleasantry, he (Mr. Livermore) had an admirable outfit 
for large usefulness. He. was a piece of sunshine. Kind 
words dropped from his lips like healthy breathings. He 
had a vein of wit, but it was never tinged with a purpose to 
sting. His heart had in it a good deal of fellowship with 
all hearts. In his public discourses he did not try any of 
the ambitious exaggerations of eloquence, knowing, as once 
was said by a sharp literary critic, 'when a man begins to be 
eloquent he begins to lie ;' nor did he ever carry his hearers 
into what has been declared the popular distinction of one 
of our living tongue performers, 'flights of fancy, oratory 
and metaphor which are almost bewildering at times,' but 
his preaching was a kind of more easy conversation with his 
people, full of good counsel for daily use, and distinguished 
by sound, practical sense. He did not effect the profound 
in unprofitable discussions, but taught the wisdom of Scrip- 
ture as related to human responsibility and life. He noticed 
with pain the trivialities and small ambitions that enter so 
generally into social conditions, and his ministry was marked 
by a special effort to lift the people into the larger relations 
of true being." 

Before the close of 185 1, some consideration was given to 
the subject of building a church. The Courant of March 20, 
1852, said that it was proposed to build a Unitarian church 
north of the Clinton House. This must have been the cor- 
ner now occupied by Brimhall's Block. But the matter 
passed out of the hands of the society into those of a corpor- 
ation known as "The Proprietors of the First Unitarian 
Meeting-house in Clinton." The original applicants for 
organization were William Stearns, Alfred Knight, Nelson 
Whitcomb, Charles Holman, George F. Howard, Camden 
Maynard, Augustus J. Sawyer, Eliphas Ballard, Jr., Franklin 
Forbes, P. L. Morgan and James A. Weeks. The preamble 
to the by-laws adopted June 12, 1852, states: "Persons be- 
longing to the First Unitarian Society of Clinton having 



496 CHURCH BUILDING. 

determined to erect a meeting-house for the public worship 
of God, the subscribers have organized themselves into a 
corporation for the more effectual management of business." 
One of the by-laws states: "Each share of twenty-five dol- 
lars shall entitle the holder to a vote in all meetings of the 
proprietors; provided that no proprietor shall be entitled to 
more than ten votes." The house several years after was 
reckoned, according to the accounts, to have cost six thou- 
sand one hundred and twenty-five dollars. The land, valued 
at seven hundred dollars, was given to the proprietors by 
Henry P. Fairbanks, on certain conditions, among which was 
the erection of a building for the use of the Unitarian Society 
of Clinton. The original debt incurred by the proprietors 
was twenty-six hundred dollars. The use of the meeting- 
house was given to the society for the interest on this amount 
or one hundred at fifty-six dollars per year. The debt was 
gradually decreased by subscription to stock until, in 1865, 
it amounted to only nineteen hundred and five dollars, and 
the rent decreased proportionately. November 26, 1866, the 
proprietors voted to convey the property to the Unitarian 
Society. The society assumed the debt of eighteen hundred 
and thirty dollars, which was soon paid off. The original 
church has since been raised and thoroughly renovated. 

The frame of the church was put up September 16, 1852, 
the building was completed at the beginning of the follow- 
ing year and dedicated February 2, 1853. Rev. L. J. Liver- 
more preached the dedication sermon. Rev. George M. 
Bartol gave an address to the society and church. Rev. T. 
P. Allen of Sterling, Rev. F. T. Gray of Boston, Rev. C. Lin- 
coln of Boston, and Rev. Washington Gilbert of Harvard took 
part in the dedication service. April 30, 1853, the mother 
church in Lancaster presented to this church part of its old 
silver, hallowed by sacred memories, for communion service. 

Rev. L. J. Livermore remained as pastor until 1857. In 
September of that year, he went to Lexington to preach. 
There, he remained nine years. Ill health forced him to re- 



REV. WILLIAM GUSHING. 



497 



sign his pastorate. After resting a year, he became pastor of 
the Unitarian Church in Danvers, where he continued to 
preach, with several interruptions on account of ill health, 
until his death. He was for, a time assistant of the Ameri- 
can Unitarian Association, and afterwards secretary of the 
Sunday School Society. This work he carried on in connec- 
tion with his regular pastoral duties. He was the compiler 
of the "Hymn and Tune Book" so commonly used in 
Unitarian churches. He died in Cambridge in May, 1886. 
Mrs. Livermore is still living in Cambridge. 

After Rev. L. J. Livermore went away, the pulpit was 
occupied for several months by Rev. William Cushing. He 
was a brother of Mrs, Franklin Forbes, and was the son of 
Hon. Edmund Cushing of Lunenburg. William Cushing 
was born May 15, 181 1. He graduated from Harvard Col- 
lege in 1832. He taught school in Fitchburg. He gradu- 
ated from the Harvard Divinity School in 1839. He was 
ordained at Calais, Me. He also preached in Saco, Me., and 
at Bedford, Mass. In 1843, ^^ formed the first Unitarian 
Society in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In the same year, he 
married Margaret Louisa Wiley. He lived for many years 
on a farm in the southern portion of the town on the banks 
of Mine Swamp and Spring Brooks, near the point where 
they enter the river. He served on the school committee 
from 1863 to 1868. In the latter years of his life, he was 
assistant librarian at Harvard University. He published 
several volumes bearing on library work, of which his " Ini- 
tials and Pseudonyms" is the best known. He died in Cam- 
bridge, August 27, 1895. 

April 4, 1858, Rev. Jared M. Heard was engaged to 
preach. He belonged to the Heard family which is so 
prominent in Wayland. He graduated from Brown Uni- 
versity in 1852. On account of ill health, he was obliged to 
give up his studies for a time, and he made a journey to 
India. He did not fully recover his health, however, but was 
always subject to physical infirmity. He graduated from the 



498 FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH, 

Divinity School at Cambridge. He was not ordained until 
August 25th. His salary was fixed at eight hundred dollars. 
Rev. Edmund H. Sears, the former pastor of many of the 
members of the society, preached the ordination sermon. 
His closing words contain a reference to the earlier life of 
Mr. Heard: "More than all the glittering prizes of wealth 
and ambition are the satisfactions that await you if only the 
living Christ be the soul of your endeavors; for that will 
make all your burdens light and turn your work into song. 
* * * Having known through what struggles, trials and dis- 
appointments you have persevered unto the end, and finally 
brought your powers as a whole offering to this work, I may 
utter this word of hope and gratulation. May the aspira- 
tions of years, often baffled, be realized now. And may the 
blessing be yours, my brother, which always waits on single- 
ness of purpose in the highest work which God has commit- 
ted to man." 

Mr. Heard lived at the house on Water Street afterwards 
occupied by J. T. Dame, Esq. Mrs. Heard, whose maiden 
name was Balch, came originally from Providence. They 
had one child. Both Mr. Heard and his wife were people of 
a high degree of social and intellectual culture, and their 
presence in the community was an inspiration to attainment 
in these directions. He is also spoken of as "a great lover 
of nature, acquainted with all her secrets." Mr. Heard was 
a tall, slim man of nervous temperament. He was intensely 
enthusiastic in whatever he undertook. He was a man of 
great eloquence, and many who were not regular parishioners 
went to hear his sermons. He was a leader in moral re- 
forms. In the early days of the Civil War, he was so full of 
patriotism that he could hardly be restrained from enlisting 
in the ranks, and he was anxious to find a place as chaplain. 
But it was agreed by all that he could serve his country best 
by staying at home and keeping alive the fires of patriotism 
by his stirring appeals. He served this district in the legis- 
lature in 1B62. He resigned his pastorate in 1863, for, as one 



REV. JARED M. HEARD. 499 

of his parishioners said : "he was too big a man for the 
place." He accepted a call to the church in Fitchburg. 
There he entered into his work with his accustomed energy. 
After a few months, he had an attack of diphtheria from 
which he died. His wife soon followed him to the grave. 

Again we quote from Rev. C. M. Bowers: "Rev. Jared 
M. Heard was a man of positive, strong personality. If it 
had a moderate element of bluffness in it, there was no lack 
with it of a real manly heart. He was richly endowed with 
intellectual force, and had his life been spared to a full 
maturity he would have ranked among the best minds of his 
denomination in all this region. In early youth, he passed 
through the excitement of a Methodist experience, but his 
more advanced thinking carried him over to what he re- 
garded as a truer philosophy of religion. * * * Mr. Heard 
gave free, honest utterance to his convictions, never for a 
moment supposing that the liberalism he rejoiced to repre- 
sent meant any trimming, uncertainity, indistinctness or 
withholding of his real belief. * * * He did not think loud 
and then speak low, but his strongest thought took its 
strongest word to express it." George A. Torrey said of 
him in an article in the Christian Register : "Deeply imbued 
with Christian principles, he was not satisfied with teaching 
them from the pulpit, but endeavored to show them in his 
daily walk and conversation. Of strong religious views, he 
was practical and earnest, without a particle of hypocrisy ; 
zealous in the faith, he was yet without bigotry, but embraced 
the whole brotherhood of man in the bonds of Christian 
fellowship." 

September 8, 1864, the society voted to call Rev. James 
Sallaway at a salary of nine hundred dollars. He was born 
in Queen Anne's County, Maryland, May 21, 1828. His 
father, Henry Sallaway, was a carpenter. His mother's 
maiden name was Elizabeth Faulkner. James Sallaway 
spent his childhood in Maryland and Ohio. When he was 
not at school he worked upon the farm and in a grist-mill, 



500 



FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH. 



He prepared for college at Oberlin, Ohio. He graduated at 
Antioch College during the presidency of Horace Mann. 
He also graduated from the Divinity School at Cambridge, 
Mass. He preached in Billerica, where he married Nellie S. 
Bacon. The earnest call of the society in Clinton and Mr. 
Sallaway's desire to preach to a large and growing parish led 
him to come to Clinton. 

He was installed November 9, 1864. While here, he 
served on the school committee. He lived in one of the 
corporation houses on Chestnut Street. Here, in the later 
days of his stay in town, a most sad accident happened, for 
one of his children was burned to death. The responsi- 
bilities of his office weighed heayily upon him and gave an 
intense earnestness to his bearing. He lost no opportunity 
to rebuke sin and point out the path of duty. 

After leaving Clinton, he preached for sixteen years in 
Boston. On account of nervous prostration, he was then 
obliged to give up preaching for awhile. He spent some 
sixteen months in Europe and the Holy Land. His health 
was thus partially restored, and he supplied the pulpit in 
Mendon for two years, that in Bath, N. H., for one year, 
that in Brooklyn, Ct., two years. Since then, he has not 
been well enough to assume the charge of a parish, but has 
preached occasionally. He is now living in Bedford, Mass. 

But little has been said in this account of the Unitarian 
Society, of the devoted men and women who were connected 
with it. There have been two reasons for this omission. 
Most of the leading Unitarians have been so prominent in 
other directions in the life of the community that it has 
seemed necessary to dwell upon their biography elsewhere. 
If the stories of these men* were all told here, many 

♦The clerks of the society have been Charles S. Patten, 1850-54; 
Augustus J. Sawyer, 1854-55 ; Henry Bowman, 1855-61 ; George W, 
Weeks, 1861-65. In addition to names already given these also appear 
prominently during the first fifteen years of the existence of the society; 
W. H. Harrington, A. A. Jerauld, George F. Howard, Absalom Lord, 



DEA. WILLIAM STEARNS. 501 

chapters would be required for the completion of our sub- 
ject. Any one who wishes to study the history of the 
society in connection with the work of its members, by 
reference through the index, may be able to understand 
somewhat of the important part they played in the history 
of the town. Another reason for dwelling lightly upon 
the records of these men and women under the head 
of their religious affiliations, is their own reticence in regard 
to religion. They preferred that their religion should be 
known through their deeds rather than through professed 
creeds, by fruits rather than by words. By this standard, let 
the religion of Franklin Forbes, Oilman M. Palmer, the 
Harrises and others like them, devoted servants of God and 
their fellowmen, be measured. 

There was one man, however, whose life was peculiarly 
associated with that of the church who should be spoken of 
here : William Stearns, the son of Josiah Stearns and Ruth 
(Hunt) Stearns, was born in Leominster, November 18, 1812. 
His father was a farmer. The boy received a common 
school education. With the exception of a few years in 
Stow, his childhood and youth were passed in Leominster. 
He learned the trade of harness maker. At the age of 
twenty-one, he went to Lowell, and four years later to Lan- 
caster. July 12, 1838, he married Mary Ann Brown of 
Sterling. They had four daughters and one son. He moved 
from Lancaster Center to Clintonville in 1846. He im- 
mediately built the harness shop now standing as No. 43 
Church Street. He continued the harness business there for 
nearly forty years, seldom missing a day's work until the 
last year of his life. He built his residence, now No. 55 
Walnut Street, in 1855. He died October 21, 1884. He was 

Dr. P. T. Kendall. Joshua R. Brown, W. H. Wellington, E. A. Harris, 
Eneas Morgan, Milton Jewett, G. M. Palmer, C. C. Stone, R. J. Finnie, 
C. D. Davis, W. E. Warren, W. T. Freeman, Alfred Clifford, D. A. 
White, E. S. Fuller, James A. Colburn, Gilman J. Babcock, James Logan, 
F. E. Carr. 



502 



FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH. 



made deacon of the Unitarian Church in Lancaster in 1843. 
He continued in this office till 1853, when he became one of 
the original founders of the Unitarian Church in Clinton. 
He was the only deacon of this church from that time until 
his death. In his theology, he belonged to that school of 
which Channing and Sears were the leaders. Simplicity, 
purity, integrity, brotherly kindness and all the christian 
virtues found their fullest expression in his character. All 
who knew him felt that such a life as his, running so gently 
through the history of the town sweetened and elevated the 
whole community. 

The Unitarian Benevolent Society from the beginning 
has taken a most active part in the work of the parish. The 
objects of the organization, as presented in the preamble to 
constitution, are: "to improve ourselves and do good to oth- 
ers." The first recorded annual report was for 1852-3. This 
report shows that the ladies took upon themselves the bur- 
den of furnishing the new meeting-house, and raised for this 
purpose five hundred and sixteen dollars and sixty-three 
cents. The work of making the pew cushions was also done 
by the ladies. From a great tea party held during the year, 
they realized over one hundred and ninety dollars. The 
first recorded president was Mrs. L.J. Livermore. Mrs. Levi 
Harris was vice-president. Mrs. William Stearns was secre- 
tary and treasurer. Mrs. Simeon Bowman, Mrs. Daniel 
Haverty, Mrs. Eliza Stone and Mrs. S. Pease were direct- 
resses. There were thirty members and thirty-one meetings 
during this first year. 

The meetings were held during the whole period with 
which our history deals at the houses of the members. From 
1861, they were in the evening, although some of the ladies 
gathered to work in the afternoon. There were often forty 
present at the evening meetings. The recorded presidents 
of the society in the following years were: Mrs. Levi Harris, 
1854-60; Mrs. P. T. Kendall, 1860-61; Mrs. Franklin Forbes, 



UNIVERSALISTS. 



503 



1861-62; Mrs. Sidney Howard, 1862-63; Mrs. William Stearns, 
1863-65. Mrs. L. J. Livermore and Mrs. J. M. Heard, the 
wives of the ministers, served as secretaries during most of 
this time. Social intercourse, support of parish institutions, 
and miscellaneous charity were the chief results attained by 
the ladies previous to 1861. During the next three years, 
the needs of the soldiers claimed a large share of their atten- 
tion. Box after box was prepared and sent either directly 
to our Clinton soldiers m the field or to the Sanitary Com- 
mission. Thus, in whatever direction there was the most 
need, whether at home or abroad, the society was always 
ready to devote itself with the deepest sympathy and great- 
est efificiency. 

Several of the citizens of this community were connected 
with the Universalist Society of South Lancaster. This 
society was organi2ed in 1838, although there seems to have 
been some preaching before that time. At a meeting held 
January 16, 1838, we find that Sidney Harris was one of a 
prudential committee of three to raise funds for Universalist 
preaching. Mr. Harris did not, however, belong to the 
society when it was definitely organized. On the constitu- 
tion, which was signed April 30, 1838, are the names of 
William, James and Lucinda Pitts, Nancy and Eliza A. Dor- 
rison, and Luther Gaylord. Meetings were held in private 
houses, the Town Hall and the Academy building until 1848. 
In that year, a meeting-house was completed and dedicated 
April 26th. It was situated in South Lancaster. Services 
were held here for seven years. Rev. John Harriman, 1841-3, 
and Rev. Benjamin Whittemore, 1843-54, were the principal 
ministers. In 1858, the building was sold to the state and 
moved to the grounds of the Industrial School, to be used as 
a chapel. In 1850, Luther and Laura Gaylord, William, Seth 
G. and Susan B. Pitts were members of this church. 

By 1853, there were Universalist meetings held in Clinton 
Hall. Rev. Sylvanus Cobb, the novelist, was one of the 



504 



FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH. 



preachers. There was some attempt at a permanent organi- 
zation, but although there were occasional meetings for many 
years, the organization never became strong enough to build 
a meeting-house or support a resident pastor. 

The Second Adventists also held meetings in Clinton, in 
the Deacon John Burdett's Hall. Their meetings were 
characterized by great fervor, but the Adventists did not 
attain sufificient numbers or financial strength to build any 
house of worship. 

The Episcopal Society was of later origin. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. 

The history of the Catholic Church in Clinton is so 
closely connected with that of our citizens of Irish descent, 
that it is impossible to consider the one apart from the other. 
It is peculiarly unfortunate in this portion of our narrative, 
that the close of the Civil War has been fixed upon as the 
end of Qur work, for, while before the Civil War the Catholic 
Church in Clinton was still in its mission stage, since the war 
it has had a development that seems almost marvellous. 
The growth in wealth, in culture, and in influence among our 
citizens of Irish descent during the last thirty years, is the 
most remarkable fact in the history of our town, a fact that 
no one would have dared to prophesy from those small 
beginnings of earlier times. The development of later years 
renders the story of these beginnings of the utmost im- 
portance. 

Tradition states that the Larkins, whose military record 
in the Colonial and Revolutionary Wars has been the subject 
of comment, were of Irish descent. Although the Larkin 
homestead was within the present limits of Berlin, yet some 
members of that family doubtless resided within present 
Clinton limits. Philip Larkin, the original settler, is said to 
have left Ireland about 1716, to avoid service in the English 
army. Tradition says further, that he was a Catholic, and 
that when he became an old man, in order that he might die 
within the arms of the mother church, he went to Baltimore, 
Md. In confirmation of this tradition, his grave is said to 



5o6 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. 

have been found at Poolesville, Md., in 1862. The records of 
the old Lancaster Church show that his children were 
baptized as Protestants. Through frequent intermarriages 
with neighbors of English descent, the family must have 
soon lost any distinctive race characteristics which it may 
have originally possessed. 

It is said that the first family of Irish descent that worked 
in the mills of this community, was named Quinn. A Mr. 
Quinn was employed by Poignand & Plant, or their succes- 
sors, the Lancaster Cotton Manufacturing Company, in the 
twenties. The family lived in a little building called "The 
Laundry," on Main Street, north of the house now known as 
the Parker house. Little reliable information can be gathered 
of this man or his family. 

When the Clinton Company enlarged its plant in 1845, ^ 
considerable number of Irish immigrants were employed on 
the wheel-pit and canal. The christian names of these men 
are not given on the books. The family names are Barry, 
Fahey, Durkin, Cummings, Moran, Cain, Finnerty, Donahoe, 
Burke, and McDermott. Timothy Moran is entered as a 
dyer during the same year. About the same time, men of 
Irish birth were employed in preparing for the building of 
the Lancaster Mills. Within the next few years the number 
of immigrants from Ireland who had settled in Clinton, 
reached several hundred. 

In order to understand this immigration, we must glance 
for a moment at the condition of affairs in Ireland. Among 
the causes which led so many of the inhabitants of that 
island to leave their native land, was the desire for religious 
freedom. Through the efforts of the great agitator, Daniel 
O'Connell, Catholic emancipation had been won in 1829. 
But, although by this act the Catholics were admitted to 
Parliament and to civil and military office, yet they were 
obliged to pay tithes for the support of the established 
church, and the increase in the property qualification for 
voting disfranchised six-eighths of the former electors. 



REASONS FOR LEAVING IRELAND. 507 

Certain laws affecting the inheritance of property or leases 
by Catholics also tended toward injustice. 

In the landlord system, we find the second great cause for 
emigration. A large portion of the people of Ireland were 
tenants holding leases under landlords who seldom resided 
on their estates, and who, from difference of race, had little 
sympathy with or understanding of their tenants. Under 
such circumstances, the incentives to industry were small, 
since the fruits of labor were not secure to the toiler and 
every avenue to progress was closed. In attempts to collect 
tithes for the church and rents for the farms from a people 
impoverished and smarting under a sense of injustice, force 
was frequently used, and thus the bitterness of feeling was 
deepened. 

The cold, wet seasons from 1845 ^o i847. caused repeated 
failures of the potato crop, which was the chief source of 
support for the Irish people. A terrible famine came upon 
the land. Although Ireland at this time was exporting 
wheat and other food products, yet the laws of trade and the 
condition of the people kept them from securing the 
necessities of life. Thousands died of starvation; "the sur- 
vivors were like walking skeletons, the men gaunt and 
haggard, stamped with the livid mark of hunger; the child- 
ren crying with pain; the women in some of the cabins too 
weak to stand." W. E. Foster, an English eye witness, still 
further says : "As we went along, our wonder was not that 
the people died, but that they lived, and I have no doubt 
that in any other country the mortality would have been far 
greater; that many lives have been prolonged, perhaps 
saved, by the long apprenticeship to want in which the Irish 
peasant had been trained, and by that lovely, touching 
charity which prompts him to share his scanty meal with his 
starving neighbor." Famine was followed by an epidemic, 
that alone destroyed two hundred thousand of the people. 

Of course, there was every endeavor on the part of the 
English government to relieve the distress by public 



5o8 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. 

work, and from England and America food was sent to the 
starving;* yet before the three years of famine was over, the 
population of Ireland had decreased from eight millions to 
less than six millions. Landlords, especially those who lived 
in Ireland, were forced by the involved condition of their 
affairs to dispose of their estates. The new landlords took 
every means to eject the tenants whom the famine had made 
paupers, and thus another cause was added for the great 
exodus. Many sought homes in England; a hundred 
thousand went to Canada in a single year, but most of the 
emigrants found a home in the United States. 

The passage across the ocean was scarcely less destructive 
than thejfamine at home. The ships were not subject to 
sanitary inspection, and they were crowded oftentimes to 
the utmost degree by men, women and children already worn 
out by the sufferings they had passed through. It is said 
that in many cases one-fifth of the steerage passengers died 
on the voyage, and many more soon after landing. Coming 
under such conditions, it is evident that the great body of 
these immigrants had little or no property when they landed 
on our shores. There were among them a few blacksmiths, 
a few layers of stone, and a few makers of linen, but in 
general, they had had no opportunity to learn a trade, and 
were, therefore, at first obliged, for the most part, to take 
the position of unskilled laborers. The contrast which may 
be drawn between the state of these immigrants at the time 
they became Americans and their present state, affords most 
conclusive evidence of the hardness of the conditions under 
which they formerly lived, the progressive character of the 
people, and the blessings of free government. 

S®on after the Catholics began to settle here in any 
considerable numbers, provision was made for satisfying 
their spiritual needs. Rev. James Fitton was appointed by 

*A large subscription for this purpose was sent from Clintonville and 
Lancaster Center. 



FATHER GIBSON. 



509 



Bishop Fenwick to visit the Catholics in Worcester in 1834. 
At first, he said mass there only once a month, but in 1836, 
a church had been completed, and he became a resident 
priest in May of that year. In 1837, St. James Seminary 
was established. In 1842, this was presented to Bishop 
Fenwick, together with sixty acres of land. Here, on June 
21, 1843, the corner-stone of Holy Cross College, where so 
many Clinton boys have received their higher education, was 
laid. Father Fitton was followed by Father Williamson the 
same year. Father Williamson remained only two years. 
There may have been a very few Catholics in Clintonville 
who sought spiritual guidance from these Worcester pastors 
before 1845, but we have no authorized record to that effect. 
In 1845, Rev. Matthew Gibson became resident priest in 
the Worcester parish. He was of English descent, and was 
born in Hexham, England, May 5, 1817. He was a man of 
great enterprise and unbounded zeal. He soon laid the 
foundation of a new and much larger church edifice in 
Worcester, and extended the mission work into all the towns 
of the county and its borders where the Catholics had 
settled in any numbers. In 1845, he said the first mass in 
Clintonville. As he had so many other mission churches to 
attend to, he was not able to come here oftener than once 
each month. The services were held in private houses. 
Father Gibson remained in Worcester until 1856. He after- 
wards served his church in Wisconsin, in England and in 
New Jersey. He has died within a few years. In an ode 
written to his memory we read : 

The hearts that knew him, loved him, 

The eyes, that missed him, wept 
When resting from his labors 

In Death's cold arms, he slept. 

In November, 1847, Father John Boyce became an 
assistant to Father Gibson. The mission work was divided 
between these two priests, and the Clintonville mission soon 
came under the charge of Father Boyce. The division of 



510 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. 

the work, and the subsequent appointment of resident priests 
at Fitchburg and elsewhere, enabled Father Boyce to visit 
Clintonville twice a month, and finally, after some years, 
mass was said every Sunday. Although most of the 
Catholics in Clintonville were so poor that few of them had 
yet provided suitable homes for themselves, yet it was 
decided to build a house of worship, and devout followers of 
the church were ready for the self-sacrifice that this implied. 
There was some difficulty in getting land, but at last a lot 
on South Main Street was secured for a church building and 
a lot west of Sandy Pond for a cemetery. A church was 
built at once, and was dedicated October 4, 1850. The in- 
closure of pine trees which today makes the former location 
of the church conspicuous, was set out under the direction 
of Father Boyce. At first, this church was much more 
simply furnished than in its later days. The galleries, the 
pews, the organ and the furnace were put in as the means of 
the people increased. 

John Boyce was born at Donegal, in the northwest of 
Ireland, in 1810. He received his education and became a 
priest before he left his native land. He was a man approach- 
ing middle age and had already gained much experience 
before he was appointed to the Worcester Church in 1847. 
Father Boyce was deeply loved by his people. One who 
was acquainted with his life has written: "He was like the 
Good Shepherd, and ever true to the teachings of the Great 
Master. His wonderful charity was unlimited and unceas- 
ing. He wanted and kept nothing for himself. No one 
knew his good works, prompted by the innate nobleness of 
his nature, and executed so secretly that they were found 
out, now and again, only by accident. His greatest pleasure 
was to make others happy, and human suffering in any form 
touched his kindly heart. In king and beggar alike he saw 
the stamp of immortality, the seal of the Divine Creator. 
On more than one occasion, the good priest is known to 
have given the coat off his back to some poor wretch, who 



FATHER BOYCE. 



511 



appeared to need its warmth more than he. Extremely re- 
fined and artistic in his tastes, he combined in his character 
the courtly gentleman and the saintly priest." His parish- 
ioners in Clinton speak of his broadmindedness, his mod- 
eration and his calmness, which were shown in the restraint 
he exercised over his people during the intense excitement 
of the "Know Nothing" times. 

He was a natural orator, an excellent musician, and a 
man of literary ability. He wrote under the pseudonym of 
"Paul Peppergrass," "Mary Lee; or, the Yankee in Ireland." 
"Shandy Maguire; or, Tricks upon Travellers," a story of 
the North of Ireland; "Spaewife; or, the Queen's Secret," a 
tale of the days of Elizabeth, are his chief works. In a re- 
view of "Shandy Maguire," Dr. Brownson, the well known 
critic, says: " We recognize in its author a robust and healthy 
mind, true manliness of thought and feeling, and genius 
of a high order. It is brilliant, full of wit and humor, and 
genuine tenderness and pathos. With his rare genius, un- 
common ability, rich cultivation, brilliant yet chaste imagi- 
nation, warmth of heart, mirthfulness, poetic fancy, artistic 
skill and dramatic power, the author cannot fail, if he 
chooses, to attain the highest excellence in the species of 
literature which he has selected." His devotion to parish 
work kept him from winning that literary fame which might 
otherwise have been his. The labor which he took upon 
himself proved too much for his constitution, and January 2, 
1864, he was called away. His grave in Worcester was made 
under the shade of the pines which he had planted, and the 
pines which he set out about the church which he built and 
for which he labored so faithfully here, in their unchanging 
freshness may serve as a type of the memories of him that 
live in the minds of his parishioners. 

While Father Boyce was in Worcester, he was assisted 
by Rev. Patrick Thomas O'Reilly. Patrick Thomas O'Reilly 
was a native of the County of Cavan in the east of Ireland. 
He was the son of Philip and Mary O'Reilly, and was born 



512 



THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



December 24, 1833. He received his elementary education 
in his native land. He came to, America in his youth, and 
with the aid of his uncle, who lived in Boston, he studied at 
St. Charles College, Ellicott City, Md., and at St. Mary's Sem- 
inary in Baltimore. He became a priest August 15, 1857. 
He then came to St. John's Church, Worcester, to assist 
Father Boyce. He is described as being at this time " tall 
and well proportioned, dark haired, high browed, beautiful 
of face, gentle of soul, and with that undefinable charm that 
marks one of God's noblemen." He served in Worcester for 
five years with Father Boyce. During this time, he fre- 
quently officiated at St. John's Church in Clinton. During 
one year, he was here every second Sunday. Those who 
remember Father O'Reilly's work in Clinton speak of him 
with the deepest love and reverence. In 1862, he was called 
to Boston, where he organized St. Joseph's Parish. Two 
years later, he followed Father Boyce in Worcester. 

Previous to 1870, there had been but one Catholic diocese 
in Massachusetts. Then the diocese of Springfield was cre- 
ated, and Rev. Patrick T. O'Reilly was made the first bishop. 
He was consecrated by Archbishop McCloskey on Septem- 
ber 25th of that year. As St. John's Church in Clinton be- 
longed to the diocese of Springfield under the new organi- 
zation, the Catholics here again came under the spiritual 
guidance of their former priest. Of the work of Rt. Rev. P. 
T. O'Reilly, D. D., we are told: "Churches of great archi- 
tectural beauty have arisen where humble structures once 
stood. Convent and school and orphanage and hospital and 
temple lifted their heads at his bidding, until from every 
vale and hill, gleams the sign of salvation. His was a busy 
life. Here and there about his diocese, he went, ordaining 
priests, administering confirmation, laying corner stones of 
church and chapel and school, counselling priests and peo- 
ple and kindling them with zeal and devotion, born of his 
own. During these visitations, he confirmed nearly eighty 
thousand persons and dedicated forty-five churches." He 
died May 28, 1892. 



REV. DENNIS A. O'KEEFE. 



513 



The first resident parish priest over St. John's in Clinton 
was Rev. John J. Connelly. He lived on Franklin Street. 
It is said that he had formerly been in Quebec, and that 
during the ravages of the ship fever in that cit}', he had 
stood by his post ministering to the suffering, while others 
had fled in fear of contagion. Father Patterson, who was 
acquainted with Father Connelly in Montreal, speaks of the 
excellence of his scholarship, and especially the purity of 
his French diction. When he came here, he was in poor 
health and soon became unable to perform the duties of the 
parish. He went from here to the Carney Hospital, where 
he died. 

Father James Quinn assumed charge of the parish in 1863. 
He lived on Main Street opposite the foot of Winter. He 
also was a man of infirm health, and after five years of serv- 
ice was obliged to give up his parish. He never served else- 
where, but died after a short time. 

He was succeeded in Clinton by Rev. Dennis A. O'Keefe 
in May, 1868. Dennis A. O'Keefe was born in the County 
of Cork, Ireland, in July, 1840. His father, Daniel O'Keefe, 
was a farmer. The family came to America in time of the 
great famine, having just money enough to yet them across 
the ocean. The children were educated in the Boston 
schools. Dennis A. O'Keefe studied at St. Charles's College, 
Ellicott City, Md., and at St. Mary's Seminary. He became a 
curate in Worcester under Father P.T. O'Reilly, and then took 
charge of a mission church in Whitinsville, Uxbridge. The 
church in Clinton had grown rapidly during the years that 
followed the war, and the old church was no longer large 
enough for the congregation. Father O'Keefe was laying 
plans for a new church, and one day as he was gathering 
funds he took a sudden cold, and after a brief illness he died 
October 19, 1868. Although Father O'Keefe had charge of 
St. John's parish but five months, yet he had won the highest 
respect of the whole community, and was regarded with the 
greatest love by his own people. The Courant says of his 

U 



514 



THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



funeral: "During the remarks of Father Bapst the emotions 
of the audience were uncontrollable. Men, women and chil- 
dren sobbed with grief." Thirty priests were present at the 
ceremony, and twenty-five hundred people followed the re- 
mains of their beloved pastor to the grave. Only the week 
before his death he had bought an addition of eighteen acres 
for the cemetery, and here his body was laid. A massive 
monument surmounted by a cross marks the spot. 

For one year longer the people continued worship in the 
old church, but November 2i, 1869, they occupied their new 
temporary church on Pleasant Street. In 1874, the old 
church, hallowed by so many memories, was demolished. 

Here, just at the point where the phenomenal develop- 
ment of the Catholic Church in Clinton begins, our story 
must end. Thus far in this little consecrated building on the 
hill, with its humble congregation, we have had only the 
chrysalis of that which was to be. The future historian will 
have the privilege of showing how our Catholic Church burst 
from its narrow confines, and with new beauty and new 
strength brought spiritual food from heaven to earth. He 
will show how during the year after the coming of Rev. 
Richard J. Patterson from Pittsfield, in November, 1868, a new 
place of worship on Pleasant Street had been consecrated 
with accommodations many times as great as in the former 
building; how the people, still unsatisfied, on the 3d of 
August, 1875, laid the corner-stone of a new edifice of much 
greater proportions, and how, after eleven years of untold 
sacrifice for the cause which lay so near their hearts, this 
temple, massive in its structure and beautiful in its interior 
decorations, was dedicated June 27, 1886, to the worship of 
the Lord. Such a historian will dwell upon the establish- 
ment of the parochial school, the purchase of the new 
parochial residence with its choice location and ample 
grounds; he will give fitting praise to the executive ability 
of Father Patterson, by whom all this work was inspired and 
directed; he will trace the growth of organizations connected 



JOHN SHEEHAN. 515 

with the church and its people; above all, he will show the 
people themseh^es, growing so wondrously in power and in 
wisdom. Yet, we may justly claim that the germs of all 
these things are to be found in the nature and consequent 
work of those early immigrants, and that it was only through 
their self-sacrifice for the good of their children that the 
present results were made possible. 

If we were to treat of the individual members of the 
Catholic Church from the standpoint of their devotion to 
religious interests alone, we might find here as elsewhere the 
most saintly characteristics among those who have been 
most humble. Many of the women especially have excelled 
in piety and self-sacrifice, but as they did not do this for 
earthly fame, their story may be left to other records. Our 
history would be sadly incomplete, however, without some 
mention of individuals among those of Irish descent for, 
although few of them became prominent before 1865, which 
has been fixed upon as the close of our work, yet, since that 
time, their progress has been unsurpassed and we must seek 
in these earlier lives the roots of their present success. 

While it would be impossible within the limits of this 
work to give any account of all the original immigrants of 
Irish birth who either in themselves or through their chil- 
dren have rendered notable service to the community and to 
the world at large, yet a few may be taken from many to 
illustrate their progressive characteristics. These few have 
been selected especially from those families of which mem- 
bers have held the most prominent offices in this town or 
elsewhere. All have been excluded whose families were not 
in town before the close of the Civil War. 

One of the first of our citizens of Irish descent to hold 
local office was John Sheehan. He was the son of Joseph 
and Dora Sheehan, and was born in Ireland in 1825. He was 
educated in the national schools and worked on his father's 
farm. He came to America on account of the sad condition 



5i6 PROMINENT CITIZENS OF IRISH DESCENT. 

of affairs in Ireland. In 1846, he came to this section of the 
country. He married Ellen Gallagher in 1852, and settled 
on the South Meadow Road just within the limits of Lancas- 
ter. He had four children. When they began to be large 
enough to attend school, he was anxious to have them attend 
those of Clinton. His residence required that they should 
attend in Lancaster. One day, one of his sons appeared in a 
Clinton school and was noticed by a member of the school 
board and told that he did not belong here, as his father 
lived in another town. He replied: " No, sir; he lives in 
Clinton." It was found upon inquiry that Mr. Sheehan had 
moved his house across the line in order that his children 
might have the privileges of our schools. Mr. Sheehan was 
a selectman of Clinton in 1876-7, and a road commissioner 
in 1879-82. He died January 8, 1887. One of his sons be- 
came a successful merchant in Philadelphia, and one of his 
daughters was for years a Clinton teacher. 

Felix Nugent was born in Monagh-an, County Ulster, 
Ireland, March 23, 1825. His father was a land steward. 
Besides looking after the farm, he had charge of a little 
grist-mill and prepared flax for linen manufacture. His uncle 
was pressed into the English army at the time of the Napol- 
eonic wars. Most of the schools in Ulster were under 
Protestant control during his early childhood, and he was 
obliged to get his elementary education in night schools. 
After 1835, there were unsectarian national schools which 
gave good instruction, and the boy attended one of these. 
His father's cottage was made of stone, with thatched roof. 
It had an earthen floor; there was a loft that was used as a 
sleeping room. He worked with his father after leaving 
school, but, when his father died in 1844, he resolved to try 
his fortunes in a new country where men could hold property 
in their own right, uncursed by the landlord system. He 
first went to New York, then to West Boylston in 1845. I" 
1853, he came to Clinton and became a grocer, first in the 
building now known as the Kelly building on Church Street, 



PATRICK O'CONNOR. 517 

then in the Blood building, then he purchased the Kelly 
building and moved back there. He built the house which 
he still occupies on South Main Street. In later years, he 
has been a coal dealer. He was an assessor of the town for 
six years, and has been overseer of the poor. He was one of 
the organizers and chief workers in the St. John's Temper- 
ance Society. His sons are well known business men. One 
of them, William Nugent, has served the town as a member 
of the board of selectmen. 

Patrick O'Connor was born in Ireland, June 17, 1822. His 
father, Thomas O'Connor, was a farmer. The boy spent his 
youth in his native land, and was educated in the common 
schools. He came to this country to better his condition. 
He located in Clintonville in April, 1848. He worked at the 
Clinton Foundry. He built a house on Summit Street. He 
married Mary O'Brien in June, 1855. The fact that strikes 
the observer most strongly in the life of Mr. O'Connor is the 
value he set on education. Although his income was by no 
means large, yet his children received the full benefit that 
the schools of the town could give them, and two were sent 
to college. His son, Dr. Thomas H. O'Connor, is one of 
our best known physicians, and has been a member of the 
board of selectmen, of the board of health, and of the board 
of library directors. He is medical examiner. Three of the 
daughters of Patrick O'Connor are teachers. He died May 
26, 1891. 

John J. McNamara, the father of our postmaster, was 
born in Mayo, County Connaught, Ireland, in 181 5. His 
father, Timothy McNamara, was a farmer, and the son was 
brought up to work at his father's business. In the winter, 
he added to his income by fishing off the west coast of Ire- 
land. He obtained a good general education and added 
some Latin to the common branches. In the time of the 
great famine, as the outlook for the future was very poor in 
Ireland, he determined to emigrate. In December, he set 
out from Liverpool in a sailing vessel loaded with railroad 



Sii 



PROMINENT CITIZENS OF IRISH DESCENT. 



iron. The ship was wrecked after a tempestuous voyage 
and driven upon the Island of St. Thomas, one of the West 
Indies. There, the vessel was refitted, and then the voyage 
was renewed. Fourteen weeks were spent between Liver- 
pool and Boston. Mr. McNamara resided in Worcester and 
West Boylston for some time, and then came to Clintonville 
in 1849, to work in the Lancaster Mills. He was one of the 
original purchasers of land on the Acre from the Lancaster 
Mills Corporation. He built two houses on Oak Street. He 
had a family of nine children. There were five boys, all of 
whom survive. Mr. McNamara died July 29, 1889. 

Martin Murph}-, the present chairman of the board of 
selectmen, and Thomas Murphy, the chief of police, are 
children of Lawrence Murphy. The brothers, Lawrence and 
Martin Murphy, were born in Nut Grove, County Galway, 
Ireland, the former, October i, 1822, the latter, November 
10, 1824. Their father, Patrick Murphy, was a farmer, and 
the sons spent much of their childhood and youth at work 
with him. Lawrence Murphy came to Clintonville in 1847 
and his brother came three years later. Both learned the 
trade of the stone mason, and either as employees of Ed- 
mund Harris or as independent contractors, have done a 
considerable portion of the stone-work of Clinton and the 
surrounding towns. Martin Murphy built the first house on 
Franklin Street in 1866, and Lawrence moved a house which 
he had bought to the same street in 1867. Both had large 
families. Lawrence Murphy died December 29, 1884. 
Martin Murphy is still living, in an honored old age. 

Patrick Heagney, the father of William F. Heagney, so 
well known as a druggist and as a treasurer of the town, was 
the son of Thomas Heagney of County Galway, Ireland. He 
came to this country and to Clintonville in 1848, to join 
members of his family who had come hither before. He 
worked in the Lancaster Mills. He married Ellen Burke in 
May, 1856. He moved to Canada, and had a farm in Mel- 
bourne, P. Q., where he died July 18, i! 



THOMAS A. McQUAID. 519 

Michael Harrit)', the father of the present town treasurer, 
was born in County Mayo, July 3, 1826. He was the son of 
Michael and Mary Harrity. He attended the village school 
and worked on the farm. He married Hannah Grady in 
1844. He has two sons and three daughters now living. He 
came to Clintonville in 1847, ^"d was a dyer in the Bigelow 
Carpet Company mills for thirty years. He built the house 
on South Main Street where he now lives. 

Thomas A. McQuaid, who was partly of Scotch and partly 
of Irish descent, was born at Dundee, Scotland, May 29, 1844. 
His father, Patrick McQuaid, was for many years superin- 
tendent of the Stevens Linen Bleachery, Dudley, Mass. 
Thomas A. McQuaid and his younger brothers attended the 
public schools and the Nichols Academy, Dudley. He gave 
up his trade as machinist in 1864, and came to Clinton and 
opened a grocery store in Kendall's Block. Here, he re- 
mained until 1875. lis was subsequently in the clothing 
business. He married Mary L. Carney, June 15, 1871. The 
family lived on School Street. He died November 3, 1881. 
Mr. McQuaid had a genius for political organization, and it 
was under his leadership that the Democratic Party of Clin- 
ton became the equal of the Republican Party in power. 
He was our first prominent town officer of Irish descent. 
He served on the board of selectmen, 1872-4, and was chief 
of fire engineers in 1880. His brothers, Samuel and John, 
who came to town later, were each prominent business men, 
and each served on the school committee. John McQuaid 
was also our postmaster. 

William Roche was born at Cork, Ireland. He passed 
his childhood in his native land, and received a good 
elementary education there. He learned the trade of a 
mason. He lived at Utica, New York, in 1844. He came to 
Clintonville in 1848, to work at his trade on the new mill 
buildings. He was an expert mechanic. He lived on Main 
Street. He was a resident of Clinton for twelve years. He 
died in 1876. His sons attended the public schools, con- 



520 . PROMINENT CITIZENS OF IRISH DESCENT. 

tinuing their course into the High School. They have 
attained eminent success in business and professional life. 
Dr. Thomas F. Roche was for a time our town physician. 
John A. Roche, who was born at Utica, New York, August 
12, 1844, has gained a national reputation. While in Clinton, 
in addition to attending school, he worked in the mills and 
the bakery. After leaving Clinton, he studied mechanical 
engineering at the Cooper Institute in New York City. He 
served an apprenticeship at the Allair works, New York. 
Later, he was with James R. Robinson of Boston ; then in 
New York again, and with the Corliss Steam Engine Com- 
pany, Providence. In 1867, he went to Chicago. He mar- 
ried Emma M. Howard of Clinton, in Chicago, June 22, 
1871. He has been a merchant, manufacturer and real estate 
owner in that city. He is at present a manufacturer of 
machinery. He put into operation the Lake Street Elevated 
Railroad, and has been prominently connected with the 
development of the systems of sewers, water-works and the 
canal for Chicago. He is now building the Technical 
Institute in that city. He is a Republican in politics. He 
was a member of the Legislatue of Illinois from 1876 to 
1878. He was mayor of Chicago from 1886 to 1888. as the 
representative of a great reform movement. The efficient 
manner in which he carried out the purpose for which he 
was elected gave him a national reputation. 

The one man among our Clinton citizens who above all 
others has represented the progressive character of his race, 
is John William Corcoran. 

James Corcoran was born in Athlone, County Ros- 
common, Ireland, in 1820. He received a good common 
school education. He came to Clintonville in 1846, about 
the same time that John Sheehan settled in Lancaster. 
These two men were very intimate friends. He worked for 
the Lancaster Mills for a little while, and was for years in 
charge of the cemetery. In his later life, he was a local 
ticket agent for the steamship lines between England and 



JOHN W. CORCORAN. 52I 

America. He married Catherine Donnelly. He lived for 
a short time on Chace Street, next to the house of Edwin 
A. Harris. In his later years, he bought a plastered house, 
which is still standing, on the road leading from the Acre to 
Caleb Carruth's. He paid the mortgage on this house grad- 
ually, from a limited income. The education of his children 
he always looked upon as a prime necessity. He died Feb- 
ruary 27, 1872, and his wife followed him to the grave in 
November of the same year. His son says that nothing 
would have been further from his father's desire than to 
seek political office, for he hated the contention connected 
with it. His neighbors remember him as a sturdy man, full 
of rugged common sense. 

John William Corcoran was born at Batavia, New York, 
June 14, 1S53, while his father was temporarily engaged in 
railroad construction there. After a few months, his father 
returned to CHnton, and the boy passed his childhood and 
youth here. He attended the public schools, first in the old 
building on the Acre, then in the brick school-house above 
the Lancaster Mills' Bridge, then in the Grammar school- 
house on Walnut Street. He entered Holy Cross College 
February 17, 1868. He pursued his studies there and at St. 
John's, Fordham, and then at Holy Cross again. The death 
of his mother, quickly following that of his father in 1872, 
made him the head of the family and put an end to his 
classical studies. He received the degree of L. L. D. in 1893 
from St. John's, Fordham, and a similar degree from George- 
town University in 1895. His responsibility for the younger 
members of the family which he assumed at so earl}' an age, 
although fulfilled with the greatest carefulness and sympa- 
thy, did not hinder him from carrying out his plan of study- 
ing law. He read for a short time in the office of D. H. 
Bemis, Esq., who had a large practice here in the early 
seventies. He graduated from the Boston University Law 
School in 1875. ^^ immediately opened an office in Clinton 
in the Burdett and Fiske Block. Here, he remained until 



522 



PROMINENT CITIZENS OF IRISH DESCENT. 



the building of the Bank Block, in i88i. He opened an 
office in Boston in 1889. He was very successful in his 
practice in Clinton, and has attained the same success on a 
larger scale in Boston. 

He married Margaret J. McDonald of Boston, April 28, 
1881. In 1884-5, he built his residence on Cedar Street, on 
a site commanding a beautiful view of the upper valley of 
the Nashua. Soon after he settled in practice here, he 
became the recognized leader of the Democratic party in 
Clinton. In 1876, he was elected a member of the school 
committee, an office which he has continued to hold since 
that time. He has received for this office the votes of many 
of the Republicans, who have recognized his broad-minded- 
ness and the inspiring power of his example upon the 
younger generation. He has been chairman of the board 
since 1884. He was made town solicitor in 1883, and held 
the office, with the exception of one year, until he resigned 
in 1892. He was influential in the movement which led to 
the introduction of water into Clinton. He especially advo- 
cated that the system should furnish an immediate supply 
for domestic purposes. He has been water commissioner 
since the organization of the board in 1881, serving at first as 
secretary and treasurer, and as chairman, since the death of 
Jonas E. Howe. 

He was appointed receiver of the Lancaster National 
Bank, January 20, 1886, and through his able management 
the depositors were paid one hundred and nine cents on a 
dollar with its accrued interest, and the stockholders received 
a larger amount than was expected. He was president of the 
local board of trade in 1886-7. He has been twice nominated 
as representative to the lower house of the General Court, 
and twice as state senator. His political influence soon 
began to reach far outside of local bounds. He received the 
nomination of his party as attorney general in 1886, and 
again in 1887. For four years, 1888, '89, '90 and '91, he was 
candidate for the office of lieutenant-governor. He was 



JOHN W. CORCORAN. 523 

appointed judge advocate general in 1891 and in 1892. In 
May of the latter year, he resigned to accept the position of 
associate justice in the Superior Court. His work as a judge 
won the highest enconiums from his associates, and his retire- 
ment from the bench November 22, 1893, was universally 
regretted. But he found his law practice more lucrative and 
more adapted to his energetic nature. In 1893, he was pres- 
ident of the Massachusetts board of managers of the World's 
Columbian Exposition. 

In 1884 and 1888, he was sent as a delegate to the Dem- 
ocratic National Convention from the Ninth Congressional 
District. In the latter year, he was chairman. In 1892 and 
1896, he was delegate at large, and in the latter year, he 
again acted as chairman. He was a member of the Dem- 
ocratic State Committee in 1891, 2, 4, 5, 6, and during the 
last three years under Cleveland's administration, much of 
the Federal patronage passed through his hands, as chairman. 
He is a vice-president of the Young Men's Democratic Club 
of Massachusetts. He has been for years one of the fore- 
most speakers in the political campaigns of the state. The 
votes which he has received and the offices which he has held 
are sufficient proof of the high regard in which he is held by 
his party and the people of the state at large. His genial 
social nature has always won him many friends, even among 
those who were his political opponents. He is a member of 
the Algonquin and Papyrus Clubs, and is the president of 
the Clover Club. 

All analysis and eulogy must be left for the future histo- 
rian, but the mere record of facts already given shows him 
to be our best known citizen and the one who has received 
the highest honors. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

VARIOUS ORGANIZATIONS. 

Trinity Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons* was or- 
ganized under a charter dated January 30. i/yS.f This was 

* For the facts herein recorded we are indebted to " History of Old 
Trinity Lodge of Lancaster, Mass.," by Jonathan Smith, and to a chapter 
on Masonic History, written by the same author for the " History of 
Worcester County." 

+r^ _ 1 Jos: Webb G. M. 

TLL. S.J mqsjjs Deshon D. G. M. 

To all .... to whotn .... JOSEPH WEBB ESQ Grand Master, of 
.... Antient Free &^ Accp .... duly authorized, &^ Appointed, &^ 
in Ample form Installed, together with his Grand Wardefis, 
Sendeth GREETING: 
Whereas a Petition has been presented to us by Michael Newell, 
Edm<* Heard, James Wilder, Jonas Prescott, & Richard Perkins Bridge, 
All Antient, Free & Accepted Masons, resident in LANCASTER, in the 
County of Worcester, in Massachusetts State, in New England, Pray- 
ing, that they, with such others as may think proper to join them, may 
be erected, and constituted, a regular Lodge of Free and Accepted 
Masons, under the name, Title & designation, of the Trinity Lodge, 
with full power, to enter apprentices, pass Fellow Crafts, and raise 
MASTER MASONS, which Petition, appearing to us as tending to the 
advancement of Antient Masonry, and the general good of the Craft, 
have unanimously agreed, the Prayer thereof should be granted. 

KNOW YE, therefore, that we, the Grand Master, & Wardens, by 
virtue of the power and authority aforesaid, & reposing special Trust & 
Confidence in the prudence, fidelity & Skill in Masonry, of our Beloved 
Brethren above named; Have constituted, appointed, and by these 
Presents, Do constitute & appoint them the said Michael Newell, Ed- 
mund Heard, James Wilder, Jonas Prescott, & Richard Perkins Bridge, 



MASONS. 



S?5 



the fifth charter granted by the Grand Lodge of Massachu- 
setts. 

Michael Newhall, whose name appears first on the char- 
ter, was doubtless foremost in starting the order in Lancaster. 

a regular Lodge, of Free & accepted Masons, under the name. Title & 
designation of Trinity Lodge : — 

Hereby giving and granting, unto them, & their Successors, full power 
and authority, to meet & convene as Masons, within the Town of Lan- 
caster, aforesaid; to receive & Enter Apprentices, pass Fellow Crafts, & 
raise Master Masons, upon the payment of such moderate composition 
for the same, as may hereafter be determined by said Lodge ; also to 
make choice of a Master, Wardens & other Office Bearers annually or 
otherwise as they shall see Cause ; To receive & collect Funds, for the 
relief of Poor & decay'd Brethren, their widows or Children, & in general 
to transact, all matters relating to Masonry, which may to them appear 
to be for the benefit of the Craft, According to the Antient Usages & 
Customs of Masons; And we do hereby require, the said constituted 
Brethren, to attend at the Grand Lodge or Quarterly Communications, 
by themselves, or their Proxies (w"'' are their Master and Wardens for 
the time being), and also to keep a fair and regular record of all their 
Proceedings, & to lay the same before the Grand Lodge when required. 

And we do hereby enjoin upon our said Brethren, to behave them- 
selves respectfully & obediently to their superiors in office and not to 
desert their said Lodge without the leave of their Master & Wardens; — 
And we do declare the Precedence of the said Lodge, in the Grand 
Lodge & elsewhere, to commence from the date of these presents, & 
require all Antient Masons, Especially of those holding of this Grand 
Lodge, to acknowledge & receive them & their Successors, as Regular 
Constituted Free & Accepted Masons, and treat them accordingly. 

GIVEN, under our hands & the seal of the Grand Lodge affixed, 
at BOSTON, New England, this Thirtieth day of Jan>' in the year of our 
Lord 1778, and of Masonry 5778. 

Thomas Urann G S"^ Thomas Crafts S. G. D. 

WiNTHROP Gray G. T. Edward Procter J. G. D. 

John Symmes G. S. B. Samuel Barrett S. G. W. 

Paul Revere J. G. W. 
Received Nine pounds for the fees of this Charter. 

John Lowell G. T. 

Received one F'^ ten shillings for drawing this Charter & record of 
the same. James Carter G. Sec^ P. T. 



^26 VARIOUS ORGANIZATIONS. 

Jonas Prescott* is the only one of the charter members who 
had his home in this community. March 5, 1779, thirty-nine 
men had become members; in 1783, as many as seventy. At 
first, the jurisdiction of the Lodge was very extensive, but the 
formation of new lodges in Worcester, Framingham, Ashby 
and Groton reduced it nearly to its present territory. It is 
not known where the meetings were held during the first 
year, but by the beginning of the second, a hall had been 
fitted up in a building which stood where Daniel M. How- 
ard's residence now stands. From 1796 to 1799, the Lodge 
probably had its hall in a house on Main Street in North 
Lancaster. This house is now owned by William Powers. 
Quarters were afterwards occupied successively in the Mer- 
rick Rice house, in the Lancaster House, and over John G. 
Thurston's store. These early halls were furnished much 
more simply than those of today. Until September, 1787, 
the meetings were held on the first Monday of each month, 
from four to eight o'clock p. m. Then, meetings were held 
on the first Tuesday of alternate months, beginning at six p. 
M., until February, 1790, then, every month from six to ten 
until 1792, and then, the hour was again set at four p. m. 

Of these meetings, Mr. Jonathan Smith says: "Among 
Masons it needs no vivid imagination to picture the charac- 
ter or the delights of those gatherings among men bound 
together by masonic ties and imbued with the fraternal and 
social principles of the order. Coming from their scattered 
and isolated homes, from the hard toil of their farms and 
shops, they found that satisfaction and pleasure which men 
craving close and friendly intercourse with each other could 
easily find within the charmed circle of brethren bound to 
one another by the fraternal chords of the mystic tie." 

There was a special observation of the festival of St. John 
the Evangelist in December, and also of the feast of St. John 
the Baptist, June 24th. The latter was public, and an appro- 

* See further account of his life by aid of index, 



MASONS. 527 

priate sermon was <:^iven by some clergyman. The Masons of 
these earlier times looked upon Washington with the deepest 
reverence, and his death was the occasion of an impressive 
memorial service, February 22, 1800. In addition to Jonas 
Prescott, there were four other men from this section who 
were members of the Lodge. These were John Prescott, 5th, 
Benjamin Gould, John Hunt and Thomas W. Lyon. Elisha 
Wilder may also have been a resident of the community east 
of the river at the time of his membership. Levi Greene 
became a mem.ber of this old lodge in the last years of its 
existence. The masters were as follows: Michael Newhall, 
1778; Edmund Heard, 1779-83, 1789-92 and part of '93; Tim- 
othy Whiting, Jr., 1784, '85, '87, part of '93, '94 and '97; Eph- 
raim Carter, 1786; Abijah Wyman, 1788; John Maynard, 
1 795, '96, 1 801; Abraham Haskell, 1798; Moses Thomas, 1799; 
Amos Johnson, 1800; Joel Pratt, Luke Bigelow, John G. 
Thurston and Calvin Carter subsequently held this office. 

No records of the old Trinity Lodge were kept after 1800, 
and therefore we know little of its history from this time. 

The "Morgan" trouble created less excitement in this 
region than i-n some other sections of the country, yet it 
caused the society to become unpopular, and after 1832, no 
more meetings were held. Mr. Smith says: "Though as an 
organization it had come to an end, the principles of 
masonry which it taught, had not suffered. These never 
decay nor become obsolete, their meaning never changes, 
their influence, when practiced, never ceases to impress and 
enoble the character. Their foundation is truth; they enjoin 
the cultivation of friendship, brotherly love, morality, and 
universal benevolence; their result, when incorporated into 
life and conduct, the perfect man." 

At a meeting held at Harris Hall, over C. W. Field's ten- 
ement, September 8, 1858, the first formal steps were taken 
for reviving the old lodge or establishing a new one. Henry 
Bowman, Alfred A. Burditt and George L. Thurston were 
leaders in this movement. Since it was found to be the 



528 



VARIOUS ORGANIZATIONS. 



opinion of the secretary of the Grand Lodge that old Trinity 
Lodge could not be revived, it was voted at a meeting held 
one week later, to ask for a dispensation for a new lodge in 
Clinton, to be called Trinity Lodge. This dispensation was 
received and accepted September 29, 1858. E. Dana Ban- 
croft of Ayer was chosen Worthy Master. The charter was 
dated September 8, 1859, and received September 21st. The 
charter members were Henry Bowman, Alfred A. Burditt, 
Daniel Marsh, George L. Thurston, Charles W. Odiorne, 
Luke Bigelow, Levi Greene, Josiah H. Vose and Henry Eddy. 
The first list of ofificers under this charter were as follows: 
Henry Bowman, W. M.; Alfred A. Burditt, S. W.; George 
L. Thurston, J. W.; Josiah H. Vose, Treas.; Henry Eddy, 
Secy.; Samuel T. Bigelow, S. D.; Daniel Marsh, J. D.; John 
T. Buzzell, S. S.; Amos A. Pevey, J. S.; Gilman M. Palmer, 
Marshal; Levi Greene, Tyler. 

Harris Hall was leased and continued to be the meeting 
place of the order until April 6, 1869. The masters of the 
lodge who have come within the scope of our history have 
been: E. Dana Bancroft, 18158-9, under dispensation; Henry 
Bowman, 1859-60; Alfred A. Burditt, 1860-61-62, 1863-64, 
1873-74; Josiah H. Vose, 1862-63; Levi Greene, 1864-65-66; 
Daniel Marsh, 1866-67; George W. Burdett, 1867-68; Henry 
N. Bigelow, 1868-69; Charles W. Ware, 1869-70; Charles F. 
Greene, 1870-71 (died in office); Daniel B. Ingalls, part of 
1871, 1872-73. 

The Lancaster Lodge, No. 89, L O. O. F., was instituted 
August 29, 1845. The charter members were John B. Atkin- 
son, John M. Pratt, William A. Tower, Calvin Maynard, 
Steven H. Turner, Lory F. Bancroft, Elisha Turner, George 
Fred Chandler, Horatio N. Sweet, J. C. Parsons, A. L. Saw- 
yer and Daniel Haverty. No one took a deeper interest in 
the new organization than J. B. Atkinson, our Clintonville 
tailor. Hon. Charles G. Stevens and Dr. George M. Morse 
were members of this early society. The first list of of^cers 



ODD FELLOWS. 



529 



was as follows: John B. Atkinson, N. G.; John M. Pratt, V. 
G.; W. A. Tower, Secy.; Calvin Holman, Treas.; Elijah Saw- 
yer, Warden; G. W. Howe, Conductor; A. L. Sawyer, O. G.; 
J. C. Parsons, I. G.; S. H. Turner, R. S. N. G.; L. F. Bancroft, 
L. S. N. G.; G. F. Chandler, R. S. V. G.; Elisha Turner, L. 
S. V. G.; Horatio N. Sweet, R. S. S.; J. S. Carr, L. S. S. 

The first year, the meetings were held in a hall connected 
with the hotel in North Lancaster. September 2, 1846, 
Nashua Hall in South Lancaster was dedicated. The Lodge 
was financially prosperous and prompt in paying its sick and 
funeral benefits. The spirit of charity which prevailed in the 
order often found occasion for expression. 

On October 15, 185 1, the Lodge having abandoned Nashua 
Hall, held its first meeting in Harris Hall, Clinton. Regular 
meetings were held here during the next year; but in Octo- 
ber, 1852, it was found desirable to surrender the charter. 
The final meeting was held in Nashua Hall, October i6th. 
The Lancaster Lodge was not reinstituted until October 4, 
1871. 

In the early years of our community the use of intoxi- 
cating liquors as a beverage was well nigh universal. It w^as 
as customary for the farmers and millwrights to lay in 
their regular stock of cider, as it was to secure the winter's 
supply of vegetables and meats. New England or West 
India rum was as common an article of merchandise as mo- 
lasses. Intemperance found many victims on account of 
this indulgence. Even before the Washingtonian Movement 
began, there were a few earnest temperance men in District 
No. 10 who recognized the need of reform. In the early 
thirties, the first recorded temperance society of Factory 
Village was organized by a body of young men who felt that 
association would make it easier for them to resist the drink- 
ing habit. Eben Howard was the president of this society. 
E. K. Gibbs was next in office. James Pitts and Robert 
Phelps were among the members. Most of the original sign- 
35 



530 



VARIOUS ORGANIZATIONS. 



ers of this pledge worked at the comb shop of Asahel Harris. 
For a time this society held meetings in the school-house of 
District No. lo, but finally was forced by the "rum men" to 
seek other quarters, and after a short time regular meetings 
were given up. 

The Clintonville Mechanics' Total Abstinence Society 
was more permanent in its organization and broader in its 
purposes. It first came into existence about 1844, but as its 
records have been lost, and there was no local paper at the 
time to report its doings, the history of the earlier meetings 
has not been preserved. In 1846, it was a vigorous society 
with a large membership and great influence. The following 
pledge was taken by all who joined the organization: "We, 
the undersigned, do agree that we will not use distilled spir- 
its or intoxicating liquors, such as ale, porter, strong beer 
and cider as a beverage, nor trafific in them; that we will not 
provide them as an article of entertainment or for persons in 
our employment, and that in all suitable ways we will dis- 
countenance their use throughout the community." 

At the annual meeting held January 5, 1847, the following 
list of ofificers was elected: President, Dr. G. W. Symonds; 
vice-presidents, Samuel Belyea, E. K. Gibbs; secretary and 
treasuer, I. H. Marshall; executive committee, Alvan Hall, J. 
B. Parker, Camden Maynard, Sidney Harris, J. D. Otterson, 
Charles Ryder, Levi Greene; circulation committee, R. W. 
Holbrook, W. W. Parker, J. H. Stone, J. N. Johnson, Charles 
Chace. The meetings were at this time held in the chapel. 

At a very enthusiastic meeting, January 25, 1850, the ladies 
were asked to organize for temperance work, and a commit- 
tee of ten was appointed "to remove the nuisance at Sandy 
Pond." Ezra Sawyer, H, N. Bigelow, Samuel Langmaid, J. 
D. Otterson, Haskell McCollum, J. R. Stewart, J. B. Parker, 
Camden Maynard, Samuel Belyea and Sidney Harris were 
the members. Sidney Harris was the leading spirit in this 
total abstinence society, as well as in the later organizations 
for the same purpose. In the March town meeting of this 



TEMPERANCE SOCIETIES. 531 

year, the temperance party re-elected the board of selectmen 
who sought the overthrow of the liquor traffic in Lancaster. 
There were occasional meetings throughout the year, with 
addresses from outside talent. 

Although the Courant claimed that the society had kept 
the community free from the grog-shop during the year, yet 
only eight out of three hundred and thirty-three members 
attended the annual meeting in January, 1848. During that 
year, there was a reaction from the enthusiasm of 1847. I" 
1849 and 1850, George N. Bigelow was president of the 
society, and there was greater activity and more effective 
work. Among others, Gilbert Greene, James Field, William 
N. Peirce, John Lowe, Jr., A. L. Fuller, J. W. Willard, James 
Kittredge, Nathan Burdett, Jr., and J. H. Vose were officers 
of this organization. 

The Clinton Division, No. 67, of the Sons of Temperance 
was instituted May 22, 1850. The preamble to the constitu- 
tion states that the society is formed "to shield us from the 
evils of intemperance, afford mutual assistance in case of 
sickness, and elevate our characters as men." The pledge 
says: "No brother shall make, buy, sell or use as a beverage 
any spirituous or malt liquors, wine or cider." Among the 
" Worthy Patriarchs " of the order were W. P. Holder, Nelson 
Whitcomb, L. Bruce, Sanborn Worthen, J. C. Smith, Darius 
Tucker, W. N. Peirce, C. C. Stone, J. N. Johnson, Charles 
Ryan, J. R. Stewart, David H. Fanning, A. L. Fuller, E. B. 
Kittredge, Dr. G. W. Burdett, Sidney Harris, J. H. Wilder, 
Rev. George Bowler, H. B Howe, G. M. Lowrie, G. H. Fos- 
ter, G. S. Thomson, Rev. T. W. Lewis, Rev. W. D. Hitchcock, 
Rev. A. F. Bailey, Ephraim Hunt. Among the other names 
that appear in the list of members are: Dr. Jeremiah Fiske, 
Samuel Beaven, C. H. Bridge, William Goodale, Charles 
Holman, Joseph T. Sawyer, E. K. Gibbs, Nathan Burdett, 
Nathan Burdett, Jr., H. C. Greeley, O. H. Kendall, F. T. 
Holder, G. E. Harrington, Jonathan Groby, Amos Stearns 
and Amos E. Stearns. The last name was entered June 9, 



532 VARIOUS ORGANIZATIONS. 

1856, but this date does not mark the end of the society, for 
it continued a feeble existence for some months longer. 
The best work was done previous to 1854. The meetings 
were held in the hall over C. W. Field's tenement. Sidney 
Harris is said to have built this hall for the use of this society. 
There was a division in Sterling at the same time that this 
was in existence, and many visits were paid between the two. 

The children were gathered in a " Band of Hope," and 
were educated to carry on the temperance work. 

The Everett Lodge, No. 31, Independent Order of Good 
Templars, was not organized until February 13, 1865. There 
were one hundred and seventy-five initiations the first even- 
ing. The long-continued work of this society lies after the 
period covered by this history. 

While the Bigelow Library Association and the Courant 
were the two chief local educational institutions outside of 
the schools and the pulpit, yet there were many minor insti- 
tutions whose work tended in the same direction. The Young 
Men's Rhetorical Society was among the most important of 
these. In 1855-6, it assumed the task of sustaining a course 
of lectures after the Library Association had given it up in 
discouragement. This society gave opportunity for drill in 
debate and for dramatic culture. Among the prominent 
members were Henry Bowman, George W. Weeks, Daniel B. 
Ingalls, John H. Ring and Josiah H. Vose. There were other 
debating societies, both in earlier and in later years. There 
were also numerous literary and social clubs. 

There were many opportunities for musical culture in the 
community during the period of development, and musical 
enthusiasm and ability were never more marked in Clinton 
than during the fifties. The church choirs, which we have 
already considered to some extent, were the center of musi- 
cal education. There were also general singing schools like 
those of Osgood Collester, David Chase, Alexander Stocking 



CLINTON BRASS BAND. 533 

and L. B. Tinkham. Those of Collester, held in Clinton 
Hall, were especially noteworthy. In addition to the con- 
certs given by these schools our people had many opportuni- 
ties to attend those given by outside talent. The Hutchin- 
son Family and Barnabee were very popular. 

The Brass Band was another center of musical interest. 
It was organized under the leadership of David Chase, the 
photographer, who came hither from Grafton. Among the 
members were H. T. Goodale, S. S. Welch, G. S. Nicholas, 
Abel Halliday, Monroe Halliday, C. H. White, A. J. Gibson, 
T. Thomson (not the present leader of the band), J. N. John- 
son, Dr. Jeremiah Fiske and D. A. White. The first public 
appearance was at the Methodist Levee which preceded the 
dedication of the new church in December, 1852. They gave 
a concert in February, 1853, at Clinton Hall. In the numer- 
ous celebrations of this and the following years, the band 
took a conspicuous part. Changes in population caused this 
band to break up after about three years. In 1856, three of 
its members, David Chase, Abram J. Gibson and Daniel A. 
White were in the famous Fiske Band of Worcester, led by 
Arbuckle. About 1858, the Clinton Brass Band started up 
once more, this time under the leadership of D. A. White. 
It participated in some of the stirring scenes in the opening 
year of the Civil War, but disbanded in 1861 on account of 
the enlistment of some of its members. David Chase and 
D. A. White were in the band of the Twenty-fifth Massachu- 
setts, led by Gilmore. In 1865, the Clinton Brass Band was 
organized once more, under the leadership of D. A. White. 

As early as 185 1 there was some talk of forming a mili- 
tary company in Clinton. Companies had been formed in 
many of the neighboring towns, and the military spirit was 
abroad in the land. Although our young men were eager 
that something should be done in this direction, no decided 
action was taken until the spring of 1853. On May 12th of 
this year, Colonel Upton of the Ninth Regiment of the State 



534 



VARIOUS ORGANIZATIONS. 



Militia, organized a company of fifty men here. This cobi- 
pany was known as the Clinton Light Guard. Gilman M. 
Palmer was made captain, and Andrew L. Fuller, Henry 
Butterfield, Henry Eddy and A. E. Smith, lieutenants. The 
Clinton House Hall was used as an armory. William Warren 
of Lancaster drilled the company three evenings per week. 
Uniforms were at once procured, and on July 4th, came the 
first parade. In September, the Light Guard attended its 
first muster in Springfield, and on the 19th of October, took 
a leading part in the great Clinton "Cornwallis," which its 
ofificers had been chiefly instrumental in preparing. In Jan- 
uary, 1854, a grand military ball was given. Thus, the com- 
pany during the first year of its existence was a center 
around which gathered the spirit of display and the social 
enthusiasm of the young community. 

Gilman M. Palmer having become lieutenant-colonel of 
the Ninth Regiment in the spring of 1855, Andrew L. Fuller 
was made captain of the Light Guard and Henry Butterfield, 
Henry P2ddy, Albert A. Jerauld and Christopher C. Stone, 
lieutenants. During this year, the armory was moved to the 
basement of the Bigelow Library Association building, which 
had been fitted up for that special purpose. The services of 
the company cost the town between four and five hundred 
dollars annually, besides the rent of the armory, or a total of 
about six hundred dollars. September 4, 1855, the Ninth 
Regiment had a drill in Clinton. 

The interest in the company began to decline somewhat 
after the first newness wore away, but it still continued in 
existence and performed its routine duties. In 1857, Henry 
Butterfield was promoted to the rank of captain, while 
Albert A. Jerauld, Christopher C. Stone, Leonard Carter and 
James N. Johnson were promoted to that of lieutenunts in 
the order given. In 1858, the officers were as follows: Cap- 
tain, Christopher C. Stone; lieutenants, James N. Johnson, 
L. G. Morse, Leonard Carter, J. D. Brigham. C. C. Stone 
became major of the regiment July 5, i860. As the time of 



CORNWALLIS CELEBRATION. 535 

tlie Civil War approached, there was renewed interest in the 
Light Guard, and its later history belongs with the records 
of that struggle. 

The celebration of July 4, 1853, was a notable event. 
There was a morning parade by the Light Guard and a large 
company of "Continentals." The latter were led by Jere- 
miah Barnard. These companies had a dinner with speeches 
at the Clinton House. There was a grand Sunday School 
gathering of seven hundred children on the grounds of H. N. 
Bigelow. A. S. Carleton was marshal. There were fireworks 
in the evening on Burditt Hill. 

This year did not close without still another celebration 
more notable yet. This celebration, like that of July 4th, 
may have had its origin in the Light Guard, or rather in the 
same spirit which caused the organization of that company. 
On the 19th of October, a Cornwallis was held in Clinton. 
The Light Guard, marching to the music of the Cornet Band 
from Worcester, and the Continentals, under Captain Jere- 
miah Barnard, preceded by the Clinton Brass Band, were on 
duty from an early hour receiving the visiting companies as 
they arrived at the station and escorting them to their as- 
signed positions. Artillery companies came from Groton 
and Leominster, the Rifles from Marlboro, while Westmin- 
ster, Berlin, Sterling, Oakdale and West Boylston sent their 
infantry. Barnard's Continentals were reenforced by com- 
panies from Lancaster, Harvard, Shirley, Leominster, Bolton, 
Marlboro, Rockbottom and Westminster. A company of 
Indians from Berlin was the most unique organization pres- 
ent. Sewall Richardson of Leominster, in the character of 
General Washington, commanded the Continentals. Colonel 
Upton of Fitchburg, as General Cornwallis, led the militia 
companies which, with the Indians, represented the British 
army. "There was marching and countermarching with col- 
ors flying and drums beating," and then both forces had a 
parade on the open field to the east of the common. There, 
at noon, all of the fifteen hundred, except their officers and 



536 



VARIOUS ORGANIZATIONS. 



the members of the bands, who were sent to the Clinton 
House, had their dinner. 

The battlefield where the armies met in the afternoon, 
was upon Burditt Hill. The spectators looked upon the 
manoeuvering from Union Street. Bynner says: "In the 
fight, siege and capture of the fort and British army the 
afternoon was occupied ; and such running and marching, am- 
bushing and skirmishing, firing and charging, Clinton never 
saw before. Powder enough was burned to satisfy a Chinese 
army." The British were vanquished and made a formal 
surrender on the Common. Perhaps ten thousand people 
witnessed this ceremony. In the evening, there was a grand 
ball at the Clinton House. 

The celebration of July 4, 1854, was even more elaborate 
than that of the preceding year. In the early morning, the 
various organizations gathered on the Common preparatory 
to forming the procession. On the west side stood the mem- 
bers of the two musical societies which, under the efificient 
instruction and leadership of Mr. Collester, had acquired a 
great degree of ability. With them stood the ladies, who in 
those days did not feel it beneath their dignity to take an 
active part in the celebration; on the east were the school 
children; on the north the Light Guard with the band, on 
the south the Continentals. As these stood waiting to form 
the line, " a gang of slaves, chained together, on their way 
to Nebraska, approached with their driver urging them for- 
ward with his whip." The gang stopped for a moment and 
sang " The Old Folks at Home," but the brutal tones of the 
driver ordered them to move on. Two attempted to escape 
but were pursued and shot down. 

There were twenty-five hundred people in the procession 
under A. S. Carleton as marshal. There were musical exer- 
cises, with a speech by Franklin Forbes, the chairman, an 
oration by Rev. L. J. Livermore on the state of the nation, 
and then a collation. Although there were many celebra- 
tions in later years, there were none as notable as these, 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 
THE FIFTEENTH, AND ITS COMPANION REGIMENTS. 

Clinton is the unit of our history, but this unit is made 
up of many smaller units, the citizens, and is itself a part of 
the larger units, the state and the nation. There is danger, 
lest, on the one hand, the unity of the town may be lost 
sight of, in the emphasis given to the biography of citizens 
or, on the other hand, that its individuality may appear to be 
absorbed in that of the state or nation. In the earlier por- 
tion of our history, the latter danger has seldom been present, 
but in the period upon which we are about to enter, that of 
the Civil War, it will be avoided with difficulty. It is true 
that in times of peace the relations of any community to the 
nation are as real as in times of war; that the production of 
ginghams, carpets and combs, which supply the needs of 
every section of the land, is as conducive to the welfare of 
the country as service in its armies; that the education of 
the citizen is of as much advantage to the state as his sacri- 
fice, and that votes are as potent forces as bullets; yet, in the 
non-interference of peace, it is not easy to look beyond the 
smaller community and see the part it plays in national life, 
while a nation organized for war constrains the attention and 
the parts are lost in the whole. Moreover, in times of war 
the heroic sacrifices of the patriot for his country seem to 
belong to the individual patriot and his country alone, and 
the town seems to have no part in them. 

Clinton, however, did not lose its distinct individuality as 
a community in helping the nation defend its grand self- 

36 



538 FIFTEENTH, AND COMFANION REGIMENTS. 

assertion of unity, and it may justly be claimed, that the 
services of its citizens, in maintaining the Union, were given 
by the town as a whole. Our purpose then in presenting the 
history of Clinton in the Civil War is to show the community 
in its corporate capacity, through various organizations, mil- 
itary and civil, and, especially, through the individual deeds 
of its citizens, acting as an organic unit, for the salvation of 
the country. 

A knowledge of the general outline of national history 
must be taken for granted, and Clinton must be considered 
as one of ten thousand strands in the cable that held our 
Union together. This strand was often hidden by others, 
but, at times, it came to the surface. 

It was perhaps a matter of accident, rather than an out- 
growth of an extreme anti-slavery sentiment that Clinton 
furnished two men for the struggle for Kansas, and one for 
John Brown's raid. Henry C. Latham, who had left his 
position as station agent in Clinton, June 28, 1855, was mur- 
dered in Kansas in December, 1857. Charles Plummer Tidd 
was a native of Palermo, Maine. He moved to Massachu- 
setts in 1856. Although other members of his family settled 
in Clinton, he could not have stopped here long as he joined 
Dr. Cutler's party of emigrants for Kansas. In 1857, we find 
his name in the letters of John Brown, by whom he was sent 
as a trusted agent for securing funds. A price was set on 
his head, yet he stood by his leader at Osawatomie and 
assisted him in getting slaves from Missouri to Canada. In 
the plan of John Brown for his foray into Virginia, Tidd is 
mentioned as one of the six captains, who were to be placed 
over the companies of recruits whom they hoped to gather 
from the slaves and from northern sympathizers. October 
16, 1859, when Brown led his eighteen followers to Harper's 
Ferry, Tidd and Cook were at the head of the line. After 
the place was taken, Tidd, as his most trusted officer, was 
put on duty at the school-house about a mile from Harper's 



EAGERNESS FOR ACTION. 



539 



Ferry to receive recruits and supplies. Thus, he was not 
present when his leader was captured, and he escaped. 

In February, Tidd was in Clinton with his sisters. At first, 
it may be, he lived under the assumed name of Plummer, 
but soon, openly. His friends were not slow to give him "a 
generous and healthy grip," notwithstanding the "danger of 
being summoned to Washington by the investigating com- 
mittee " as "accessories after the fact." 

We find him mustered in the Twenty-first Regiment as 
sergeant, August 23, 1861, as from Wisconsin, under the name 
of Charles Plummer. He died on the steamer Northerner, 
February 7, 1862, and was buried in North Carolina.. 

As we turn from this episode to the political history of 
the town, we find that during the summer, even after the 
nomination of the presidential candidates, the people were 
spoken of as in a state of political "apathy." But in the 
autumn, when the election was close at hand, the town was 
seething with excitement. The interest centered chiefly on 
the congressional election. The outcome of this campaign 
proved that Clinton was the banner town of the district in 
her opposition to Eli Thayer, the representative of Squatter 
Sovereignty. The study of the vote at the presidential 
election and of the discussions that preceded it, shows that 
Clinton was in sympathy with anti-slavery ideas, and over- 
whelmingly in favor of the maintenance of the Union and 
independence of southern control. 

The Republican Party of the town had inherited its 
sentiments, as well as the larger portion of its voters, from 
the old Whig Party. It is peculiarly noticeable, in contrast 
with the record of some other towns, that scarcely one of 
our volunteers has given his feeling toward slavery as a 
cause for enlistment, while almost all assert that the)' en- 
listed to help save the Union. Thus, while Clinton felt as 
every town in the North must have done, the mighty moral 
upheaval in the anti-slavery movement, it cannot be claimed 
that it was one of the centres of this upheaval. The town 



540 



FIFTEENTH, AND COMPANION REGIMENTS. 



has always been rather conservative in ideas, but progressive 
in action. It has produced few theorists, but many workers. 
During the winter which followed the election of Lincoln, 
the same intensity of feeling prevailed in Clinton which 
characterized the rest of the country. If we had listened to 
the talk of the men as they gathered at the noon hour in 
the mills or in the evening on the street or in the grocery, 
we should have found that secession and what would come 
of it was the chief topic of conversation. The local paper, 
which in former years had been somewhat inclined to shun 
politics, was now crowded with editorials, contributions and 
selected articles on the one all-engrossing theme. Ministers 
preached upon it, and school-boys discussed it with equal 
zeal. Few believed that the people of the South would act 
as they had talked. In one thing, almost all were agreed, 
the Union must be preserved at all hazards. 

The eagerness to be ready for action, which we have 
already noted as the most marked characteristic of Clinton, 
centered about the Light Guard, or Company C, Ninth 
Regiment.. This local militia company was re-organized 
August 19, i860, with Henry Bowman as captain. Many of 
the foremost young men in town served among its officers or 
in its ranks. By the ist of February, while Buchanan was 
still in office, the company voted "to hold itself in readiness 
for all demands that might be made upon it by the govern- 
ment." Captain Bowman reported to Governor Andrew, 
that the company was "not only ready, but anxious to enter 
the service." It was not the fault of the Light Guard that 
Clinton men were not the first in the field. The men little 
knew the nature of the conflict upon which they were about 
to enter, but, even if they had, their enthusiasm would not 
have been diminished. For the greater the danger that 
threatened the country, the stronger would have been their 
desire to serve it. 

The town in its corporate capacity was no whit behind its 



THE LIGHT GUARD. 54! 

individual citizens and its militia company in readiness for 
practical action. At the regular town meeting of March 4, 
1861, it was voted: "That one thousand dollars be appro- 
priated for the benefit of the Clinton Light Guard, to be 
placed in the hands of the selectmen, and to be paid out 
upon order of the officers of the Guards. Said money to be 
for the express purpose of purchasing a new uniform for the 
Guards." By this vote, Clinton, according to the report of 
the adjutant-general, was the first town in Massachusetts to 
appropriate money in anticipation of a call for troops. The 
town may well glory in the fact that it was the foremost 
town in the foremost state to take financial measures to 
support the government. As it afterwards appeared that 
the town had no authority to make such an appropriation 
under the powers delegated by the state, special action of 
the legislature was invoked, and the following act was passed 
April 2d: 

"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Represent- 
atives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of 
the same, as follows: The town of Clinton, in the county 
of Worcester, is hereby authorized to appropriate the sum 
of one thousand dollars for the purpose of purchasing a 
suitable uniform for the members of Company C, Ninth 
Regiment of the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia; provided, 
however, that at a public town meeting, legally held for that 
purpose, two-thirds of the voters of said town present and 
voting thereon, shall vote to make such an appropriation." 

At a meeting, held April 23d, the sum of one thousand 
dollars for uniforms was appropriated in accordance with 
this act. 

On the 13th of April, news of the fall of Sumter was 
received. So intense was the feeling that prevailed in the 
community that business practically ceased. Then came 
Lincoln's call for seventy-five thousand men, and five Mass- 
achusetts regiments were hurried forward. Still the Ninth 
Regiment, to which the Light Guard belonged, was not called 



542 FIFTEENTH, AND COMPANION REGIMENTS. 

out. The lieutenant-colonel, Oilman M. Palmer, and the 
major, Christopher C. Stone, both displayed that eagerness 
for immediate action which characterized the town to which 
they belonged, and urged that the regiment should go at 
once to the front, but as some of the companies of the Ninth 
Regiment were not full, it had to wait behind, while the 
whole regiments went on. On the 19th, came the news that 
the Massachusetts Sixth was fighting its way through Balti- 
more. While the hearts of all were still burning, on the 
2 1st, a dispatch was received from Governor Andrew order- 
ing the Light Guard to be ready to go forward at twenty-four 
hours' notice. In the Courant of April 27th, the following 
article appeared in the editorial columns : 

"Last Sunday was a day that will be remembered by us 
and our children. At noon, Captain Bowman of the Clinton 
Light Guard, received word that in all probability his com- 
pany would be called out within forty-eight hours. Notices 
had been read in the churches in the morning, requesting 
our women to assemble at the vestry of the Baptist Church, 
on Monday morning, to make the flannel shirts for the 
soldiers ; but neither our wives, daughters, or those who 
have neither father, mother nor kindred residing in town, 
thought it prudent to wait until Monday morning, and with- 
in one hour and a half the vestry was filled and crowded 
with workers, so that many resorted to the vestry of the 
Orthodox Church. Every yard of suitable flannel in town 
was soon cut and a messenger despatched to Worcester for 
more." 

The church services in the afternoon were thinly attended 
as nearly all felt that there were other duties of greater im- 
portance. Subscription papers for revolvers were circulated 
and met ready response. Men were despatched to Worces- 
ter for these revolvers, who returned about midnight bring 
ing seventy-five with them. Perhaps, that Sunday afternoon 
was the one time during the whole struggle, when the people 
were all swept away with the greatest enthusiasm. No one 



WAITING FOR THE SUMMONS. 543 

knew what war meant; its dread realities had not yet frozen 
the souls of men or crushed the hearts of women. On later 
occasions, many of the most patriotic young men were in the 
field and many sad and anxious faces might have been seen 
among the men and women who remained at home, but then 
the zeal of all knew no bounds. All were blindly hopeful 
and eager to do their utmost for their imperilled country. 

On Monday morning, the citizens held a meeting in the 
Clinton House Hall. H. N. Bigelow was chosen chairman 
and H. C. Greeley, secretary. Speeches boiling over with 
patriotism were made by the chairman. Rev. J. M. Heard, 
Rev. C. M. Bowers, Rev. W. VV. Winchester, C. H. Waters 
and others. A subscription of two thousand dollars was 
raised for the good of the Light Guard. The physicians, 
through Dr. G. M. Morse, agreed that during the absence of 
the soldiers, their families should be attended free of charge. 

At a town meeting, held on Tuesday, the 23d, in addi- 
tion to the appropriation for uniforms already mentioned, 
the following resolution presented by J. T. Dame, Esq., was 
unanimously adopted: ''Whereas, the Clinton Light Guard, 
most of whose members are citizens of Clinton, are awaiting 
orders to march to the defence of the national government, 
and, during the contest now begun, others of our citizens 
may be called into the service of their country, the families 
of all of whom should be under our care and protection 
during the absence of their natural protectors; therefore 
resolved, that the selectmen be requested to furnish any 
assistance that may be needed by the families of those who 
shall be called from this town into actual service, and for 
this purpose to draw orders upon the town treasurer from 
time to time, to any amount not exceeding fifteen hundred 
dollars." 

No orders came for the company during the week and, 
on the following Sunday, union services were held in the 
Congregationalist Church. "The house was packed and the 
services throughout were very impressive." Rev. C. M. 



544 FIFTEENTH, AND COMPANION REGIMENTS. 

Bowers presented each member of the Guard with a pocket 
Testament, purchased by private subscription. 

With hearts sick on account of hope deferred and with 
the fear, which seems so strange to us now, that the conflict 
might be over while they were staying ingloriously at home, 
the members of the Light Guard waited two long, weary 
months before the final summons came. Meanwhile, fifteen 
of their fellow-citizens were mustered into service. One of 
these enlisted for three months in the Third Battalion of 
Riflemen. This was James McNulty, who was mustered 
May 19, 1861. He ma}' therefore be considered as the first 
citizen of Clinton to actually enter the service of the United 
States, although many others had sought this privilege in 
vain for a long time before. The fourteen others enlisted 
for three years. 

May I, 1861, some of the women, "that they might work 
for the soldiers to better advantage," organized themselves 
into a society for this purpose. The opening clause of the 
constitution reads as follows: "Whereas, the present con- 
dition of our country requires all who have enjoyed the bless- 
ings of its government to unite in contributing to its support 
and defence, the undersigned agree to form an association 
for the purpose of rendering such assistance as lies in our 
power towards furnishing clothing and other means of health 
and comfort to the soldiers, called into service." * * * 
The society held regular meetings and employed their time 
at first in making havelocks. Afterwards, cloth slippers 
were prepared for the soldiers, and mittens, with one finger 
separate from the rest for convenience in handling rifles. 

At last, the suspense of the Light Guard was brought to 
an end; the company was ordered to report at Worcester on 
the 28th of June. On the evening of the 27th, a meeting of 
the company was held and the men were addressed by their 
former commanders, Colonel Palmer and Major Stone, who, 
although hindered by circumstances from accompanying 
their fellow-citizens to the seat of war, promised to do their 



TOWN AID TO SOLDIERS' FAMILIES. 545 

utmost for the good of those in the field and those whom the 
soldiers left behind them. The final departure is thus de- 
scribed in the Courant of June 29th: 

"The departure of the Clinton Light Guard for Camp 
Scott, was unquestionably one of the grandest, and at the 
same time, peculiarly, one of the most touching, incidents 
that ever transpired in Clinton. At about half-past eleven, 
the citizens began to gather in the street opposite the armory 
(Clinton Hall), and in the space of an hour, the way was 
completely thronged with people, all eagerly but patiently 
awaiting the appearance of the soldiery. At a quarter to 
one o'clock, under escort of the Clinton Cornet Band and a 
procession of citizens, the Guards proceeded from the armo- 
ry, followed by the cheering multitude, and mid the booming 
of cannon marched to the time of a lively tune to the station. 
The compan}' was then drawn up in line upon the platform 
to await the arrival of the train and to bid adieu to their 
friends. It is hard to part with friends, especially friends 
whom we love — harder still when we may never see them 
again. And, as it is somewhat uncertain whether they will 
return before proceeding to the seat of war, the parting was 
indeed ver)' affecting. As friend after friend gave and re- 
ceived the affectionate shake of the hand or the farewell 
kiss, tears gathered in the eyes of those to whom weeping 
was a thing before unknown. But the train soon arrived, 
and with cheers, music and cannon they left us — all to re- 
turn again, we trust." 

The town, at a meeting held on July gth, the earliest date 
possible after the summons came, took the families of the 
soldiers under its charge by the following action : "Voted, 
that the selectmen be authorized and instructed, if in their 
discretion it is necessary, to apply to the aid of the wife and 
of the children under sixteen years, of any one of our inhab- 
itants who, as a member of the volunteer militia of this state, 
may have been mustered into or enlisted in the service of 
the United States, and for each parent, brother or sister or 



546 FIFTEENTH, AND COMPANION REGIMENTS. 

child, who at the time of his enlistment was dependant upon 
such inhabitant for support, a sum not exceeding one dollar 
per week for the wife, and one dollar per week for each child 
or parent of such inhabitant, who at the time of his being 
called into the service of these United States was dependant 
upon him for support; provided, that the whole sum so ap- 
plied shall not exceed twelve dollars per month for all the 
persons so dependant upon any such inhabitant. 

"Voted, that the selectmen be requested to furnish any 
further assistance that may be needed by the families of 
those inhabitants of Clinton who, as members of the Clinton 
Light Guard, shall be mustered into the service of the United 
States, and that, for this purpose, they are authorized and 
instructed to draw orders upon the town treasury from time 
to time to an amount not exceeding two thousand dollars. 

"Voted, that the town treasurer be authorized to borrow 
a sum not exceeding five thousand dollars to carry into effect 
the above votes." 

On the I2th of July, the Light Guard ceased to exist as 
such, and was mustered into the service of the United States 
as Company C, Fifteenth Regiment.* This regiment was 
recruited from Worcester County, and bore the same num- 
ber as the county regiment so noted in the Revolution. The 
other companies of the regiment came from Leominster, 
Fitchburg, Worcester, Oxford, Brookfield, Grafton, Webster, 
Northbridge and Blackstone. The regiment was placed 
under the command of Col. Charles Devens of Worcester, 
formerly major of Third Battalion of Rifles. George H. 
Ward of Worcester was made lieutenant-colonel, and John 
W. Kimball of Fitchburg, major. William G. Waters of 
Clinton was commissary sergeant. The remaining men of 
Company C, in addition to the sixty-three from Clinton, 
were for the most part recruited from Northboro, Lancaster 

*For list of Clinton men in the Fifteenth, see Individual Record. 



IN CAMP AT WORCESTER. 547 

and Worcester. There were three other Clinton men in the 
regiment. The average age of the Clinton men was about 
twenty-five years. Most of them were unmarried. They 
were not men of property. Andrew L. Fuller was the only 
one among them who paid a tax of forty dollars for 1861. 
Most of them, however, were emplo)'ed in lucrative trades 
and received much better incomes than they could expect to 
get from military service. It is evident that, in general, they 
entered the army from patriotic motives and, in the Grand 
Army Memorial Record, we have the assertion to that effect 
of all who are now living in Clinton. 

During the six weeks they spent in Camp Scott, Com- 
pany C, under the strict discipline of Captain Bowman, 
acquired a high reputation for skill in military tactics. In 
morality, they were surpassed by none. William J. Coulter, 
upon whose correspondence we shall largely rely for in- 
formation of the company during the next year, writing to 
the Courant on July 17th, says: "Not one member of the 
company has been confined in the guard-house." The boys 
frequently received delicacies from their friends at home, 
which added relish to their coarse, but plentiful rations. 

The uniforms and equipments were slow in arriving, and 
were not all distributed until the company had been more 
than a month in camp. A flag was presented to the regi- 
ment by the ladies of Worcester, on August 7th. As Com- 
pany C was the color company of the regiment, the men of 
this company had the honor of carrying this flag, and one of 
its members said: "It is their firm purpose, if called upon to 
defend the flag that floats over them, to do it to the death." 
Willis A. Cook was color sergeant. At last, on the 8th of 
August, the regiment left Worcester for the front. The 
Worcester Spy sa}'s : "The long array of muskets borne by 
a thousand stalwart men presented a novel spectacle to the 
multitudes who thronged the sidewalks and filled almost 
every window and balcon}' on the street." The train of 
twenty-four long cars left the Common amid the parting 



548 FIFTEENTH, AND COMPANION REGIMENTS. 

cheers of the vast throng that had gathered to bid them 
farewell. 

While the Fifteenth was encamped in Worcester, the 
disastrous battle of Bull Run had been fought on the 21st of 
July, in answer to the importunate demand of the North for 
action. The defeat of the Union troops under McDowell, 
had taught the people of the loyal states, what the leaders 
of the army had before fully realized, that thorough disci- 
pline and organization were essential to success. On the 
day after that battle, George B. McClellan had been sum- 
moned from the scene of his successes in western Virginia 
to take command of the Army of the Potomac. When the 
Fifteenth was ordered forward, McClellan was devoting all 
his energies to changing a loose mass of raw recruits into an 
effective army. We must think of the Fifteenth, like all 
the other troops in the Army of the Potomac, as undergoing 
during the next six months such discipline as seemed to the 
commanders best fitted for making it a part of a smoothly- 
working machine. 

The regiment was at first stationed at Camp Kalorama, 
which was some three miles from Washington. In about 
two weeks it was ordered to Poolesville, Maryland, to join 
General Charles Stone's "Corps of Observation." The 
march of thirty-five miles was made in two days and a half. 
The heat was intense and, as the men were unused to march- 
ing, they had a hard time of it. On the 29th of August, two 
days after their arrival, Company C, with Company A of 
Leominster, was ordered on picket duty on the banks of 
the Potomac, a few miles below Harper's Ferry. They were 
thus engaged for ten days. Although there was some firing 
across the river, no one',was injured. Oftentimes, conversation 
was carried on with the rebels, and once tobacco and papers 
were exchanged. Company C obtained a "contraband," "a 
right smart nigger," who having escaped from his master, 
was taken in charge by the company. He was nicknamed 



IN THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC. 549 

Tom Clinton, and made lots of fun. He was afterwards 
brought to Clinton and attended school here. 

In the middle of September, the morning report shows 
that fifteen members of the company were sick. Every 
Sunday, religious services were held. Chaplain Scanlon had 
for his platform a fiat box with a red cloth thrown over it. 
His pulpit was a drum fastened to a stack of muskets. On 
his right hand, floated the flag of the regiment, and on his 
left, the banner of the state. 

As the regiment had received no pay for services since 
the date of muster, the question most frequently heard in 
the camp, was, " When are we going to be paid off ?" After 
long waiting, the paymaster came around, and each private 
received twenty dollars. One-half of this was sent home 
in charge of Lieutenant Andrew L. Fuller, who had resigned 
his commission October 7th on account of ill health. One 
of the men wrote honje in September: "We find it rather 
dull here, and it is the earnest wish of the regiment that 
some forward movement may soon be made, as it is very 
desirable to have this ' little quarrel' closed up as soon as 
possible." This wish for action was to be gratified far too 
soon. 

October 20th, a general reconnoissance was made by the 
order of General McClellan. Thinking that this reconnois- 
sance and the movement of General McCall, by which it 
was covered, might lead the enemy to abandon Leesburg, 
McClellan ordered General Stone "to keep a good lookout" 
and possibly make "a slight demonstration" upon that place. 
Company H of the Fifteenth, had sometime before taken 
possession of Harrison Island, which lay in the middle of 
the Potomac at a little distance above Edwards' Ferry. 
Four other companies of the Fifteenth, A, C, G and I, 
crossed to this island on the afternoon of Sunday, October 
20th. Even at this time, there was trouble about the trans- 
portation, on account of the lack of suitable boats. During 
the evening, a reconnoissance was made by a squad of Com- 



550 FIFTEENTH, AND COMPANION REGIMENTS. 

pany H, who brouf^ht back the report that it had found a 
small encampment of the enemy about a mile from Lees- 
burg. The five companies on the island were ordered to 
cross, to break up this encampment, and take observations. 
So poor were the means of transportation, three row-boats, 
one capable of carrying not more than forty men and the 
other two, four each, that it took from midnight until day- 
break to get three hundred men across. 

After climbing up a bluff "as steep as Lover's Leap 
above the Dark Road," through the woods, a little opening 
was reached. Company H was sent forward as a skirmish 
line during the forenoon, and met a small detachment of the 
enemy. Firing ensued, and two men of Company H were 
killed and thirteen wounded. The other companies were not 
in this engagement, as they were held in reserve or were 
skirmishing in other directions. The men of Company C 
were standing in pale suspense, expecting that it would be 
their turn next, when the first wounded man was brought to 
the rear. It was a ghastly sight, but one of the fellows in 
nervous excitement cried out in the slang phrase of the day: 
"Oh, Lord! but I have seen whole families taken that way," 
and a laugh all along the line broke the suspense of the men. 

The enemy were reenforced during the forenoon, so that, 
since his troops were greatly outnumbered. Colonel Devens 
retired to the bluff near the river. Meanwhile, Lieutenant- 
Colonel Ward had led over the rest of the Fifteenth Regi- 
ment, and Colonel Lee had come with a portion of the 
Twentieth as a supporting force. Later in the morning, 
General Stone had given the command to Colonel Baker, 
leaving it to his discretion whether he should withdraw the 
troops already across the river, or reenforce them there. He 
decided to do the latter, and managed to get over about a 
thousand men of his brigade, making about eighteen hundred 
troops in all. The rebels had gathered a greatly superior 
force. 

In the early afternoon, the Fifteenth was on the right, in 



BALL'S BLUFF. 



551 



the edge of the woods. Two mounted howitzers and one 
piece of the New York Battery, together with the Nine- 
teenth and Twentieth Massachusetts Regiments occupied the 
centre, just at the back of the small open space, and the 
California regiment, with a portion of the New York Tam- 
many, were on the left. The enemy in greatly superior 
numbers were in front and on both flanks ; the river was in 
the rear. The position was a most perilous one, for while 
the rebels might hope for constant accessions to their num- 
bers, the Union troops, on account of the scanty means of 
ferriage, could neither hope for any considerable reinforce- 
ments or for safe retreat. 

The enemy drove in the skirmish lines from the right, 
left and centre, all at once, but the main attack was directed 
against the centre. The howitzers could not be used to ad- 
vantage, as it was sure death to approach them, but the field- 
piece at first proved more effective. The struggle was kept 
up fiercely for twenty minutes, and many fell, among them 
Colonel Baker. Then the enemy retired for a little while. 
As Company C was near the howitzers it suffered severely in 
the attack, yet the right wing stood firm. Colonel Baker 
told Colonel Devens before he died: "If I had two regiments 
more like the Fifteenth, I would advance to Leesburg." 

The Fifteenth was now ordered to move from the right 
to the front. Colonel Devens says: "The battle was hope- 
lessly lost before Colonel Baker was killed, yet the cool 
manner in which the regiment, half an hour later, marched 
from the right of the line to protect the left, would have won 
for it a historic name if it had been done on one of the bat- 
tle-fields of Europe." As the battle began again, one of the 
rebel leaders rode from the woods and shouted, "Come on, 
boys; we have them now." Just as these words left his lips, 
he fell dead. But the rebels came on with irresistible force. 
Parke Godwin said: "The Fifteenth Massachusetts, penned 
in between a crib of fire, yet were as solid as a mass of gran- 
ite when they were as free to move as the winds that blew 



552 FIFTEENTH, AND COMPANION REGIMENTS. 

over them." The Fifteenth stood the charge nobly and was 
the last to retreat. The rebels sang out: "Give it to them 

d d regulars!" but the lines remained unbroken. Not a 

man left his position until the orders for retiring had been 
given. Then, down the steep hill they went in the midst of 
a storm of leaden rain. Notwithstanding this disaster, the 
colors of the regiment were saved. Joshua Freeman acted 
as color-sergeant on that day, and through his efforts they 
were carried across the river. 

Just as the retreating troops reached the bank, a company 
of the Tammany Regiment arrived to reenforce them. The 
Courant correspondent writes: "As they left the boat, the 
wounded near by who were able, commenced to get into it, 
as also did those who were anxious to save their lives. The 
boat was overloaded and down it went with nearly a hundred 
persons on board, about thirty of whom were drowned. But 
a few moments before, I had stood on the battle-ground and 
witnessed a score or more brave men fall by the bullet, but 
I was not so much affected as when I saw that boat go down 
with its living freight." 

Meanwhile, the bullets of the enemy were pouring on the 
men and Colonel Devens ordered each one to save himself 
as best he could. Some hid in the thick woods along the 
river bank, but all who could swim and dared trust them- 
selves to the stream, threw away their guns, stripped off 
their clothing and, while the bullets struck around them 
"like hail-stones," struggled to cross to the island. Some 
succeeded, but many sank to rise no more, while others, 
finding that their strength was all too small for the effort, 
returned to the place from which they started. About dark, 
some of the men sent Willis A. Cook with a flag of truce to 
the rebels. They agreed to stop firing, if the Union troops 
left on the bank would lay down their arms and surrender. 
As there was no alternative, they were obliged to accept 
these conditions. Some of those, who reached the island, 
crossed that night to the mainland, but most, though they 



BALL'S BLUFF. 



553 



had little or no clothing, remained there until morning. 
From the exposure suffered here, many contracted diseases, 
which never left them. Two surgeons had crossed to the 
island and they cared for the wounded as best they could 
where so little shelter and light could be found. 

Colonel Devens reported three hundred and ten killed, 
wounded and missing, out of the six hundred and twenty-five 
men of the Fifteenth, who took part in the fight. The morn- 
ing report of Company C, October 2ist, shows that there 
were fifteen of^cers and sixty-two privates present for duty. 
As First-lieutenant Fuller had resigned and Second-lieuten- 
ant Johnson was ill. Captain Bowman was the only commis- 
sioned officer in the company who took part in the battle. 
Forty-three Clinton men were on the field. Of these, John 
Kirchner and William Walker, both natives of Germany, 
were supposed to have perished in trying to cross the river, 
as they were seen upon the bank after the battle. It was 
thought that a body discovered some months after, belonged 
to one of these men. These were the first Clinton men who 
perished in the war. J. D. Brigham, B. M. Daboll, D. O. 
Wallace, A. D. Wright and Frank Graichen were wounded. 
Fourteen Clinton men were taken prisoners: Captain Bow- 
man, Sergeants Alden Fuller, W. A. Cook and H. A. Put- 
nam; Corporals J. D. Brigham, J. A. Bonney and D. O. 
Wallace; Privates R. K. Cooper, J. P. Chenery, H.O. Edgerly, 
Henry Greenwood, J. O. Howard, A. S. Jaquith and John 
Smith. 

These prisoners were taken to Richmond and suffered 
severely from the hardships of the journey. They were 
without food from Sunda}' noon until Tuesday. They had 
little clothing and the weather became very cold. Many 
date chronic diseases from these exposures. The}^ were 
packed into cattle cars so closely, that if they la}- down one 
could not turn unless all the rest did. Ten of them were 
confined in Mayo's Tobacco House and the others in a neigh- 
boring building. The Richmond Examiner says of the pris- 



554 



FIFTEENTH, AND COMPANION REGIMENTS. 



oners from the Fifteenth Massachusetts: " They are the most 
cleanly, decent and orderly of all that have been brought 
here." The story of these prisoners is best told in the words 
of Henry Greenwood, one of their number: 

" Richmond, Va., November 13, 1861. 

''Friend Ballard: * * * We are stationed in one of the 
large tobacco warehouses. This building was used exclu- 
sively for the manufacture of 'navy tobacco' for the United 
States Government, before the present war broke out. The 
building is three stories high, with a basement. We are con- 
fined in the upper story, which is occupied by members of 
the Fifteenth, and the lower story is occupied by the Twen- 
tieth Massachusetts Regiment. * * * We arise at daylight, 
and after washing, we read the Testament, the morning pa- 
pers, — which we can get as long as our money holds out, — 
and such other reading as may come to hand. At ten o'clock, 
we have our breakfast brought to us, which consists of half a 
pound of wheat bread, with the same amount of fresh beef. 
After breakfast, we pass the day as best we can. We have 
our supper brought to us about six in the evening, which 
consists of the same amount of wheat bread, with soup in- 
stead of meat. After supper, we take about two hours' exer- 
cise, until bed-time, or rather board time, as we have not been 
supplied with bed-ticks as yet. Towards morning, we have 
to build up a fire to keep those warm who have no blankets, 
three-fourths of the prisoners being so situated. If our 
friends could send us some blankets, shoes, and such wearing 
apparel as we shall need, we will be quite comfortable. The 
most of us have no clothes but what we had on at the time 
of the fight. Our shoes and stocking are worn out, and the 
rest of our clothing is fast leaving us. 

" We are very strongly guarded. The building is entirely 
surrounded by a chain of sentinels, who, if we are imprudent 
enough to put our heads out of the window too far, remind 
us of our presumption by sending their compliments in the 



SPIRIT OF THE MEN. 



555 



shape of a bullet. There has been one shot fired into this 
building and two into the other building, which is near ours, 
in which Chenery is confined." 

Those of the Fifteenth Regiment, who returned to camp, 
were daunted neither by their sufferings nor their losses. The 
night after the battle, the regiment was called out to meet an 
expected attack of the enemy. As the arms and equipments 
were insufficient to go round, each member of Company C 
strove to be the first to be ready to get in line, lest he might 
lose his chance for the fight. The first parade after the Ball's 
Bluff disaster was held on the 28th of October. The men 
were formed in a hollow square and Colonel Devens addressed 
them. "Soldiers of Massachusetts," he said, "men of Wor- 
cester County, with these fearful gaps in your lines, with the 
recollection of Monday fresh upon your thoughts, with the 
knowledge of the bereaved and soul-stricken ones at home, 
weeping for those whom they will see no more on earth, with 
that hospital before your eyes, filled with wounded and 
maimed comrades, I ask you now whether you are ready 
again to meet the traitorous foe? * * * Would you go next 
week? Would you go tomorrow? Would you go now?" 
"Yes!" came the thrilling response from every man in the 
line. 

At home, as soon as the news of the battle was reported, 
the most intense excitement prevailed. White lips asked : 
"What of my husband?" "Have you heard anything of my 
boy?" In many cases, long days passed before any answer 
came, except that he was among the missing. Every means 
was used to secure information and relieve the suffering. 
Lieutenant Fuller, who had just returned on account of ill 
health, hastened back with all the speed he could, laden 
with great cases of clothing and hospital stores which loving 
hands had provided. J. H. Vose accompanied him, in be- 
half of the town committee, with instructions to find out the 
needs of the members of Company C and supply them. 



556 FIFTEENTH, AND COMPANION REGIMENTS. 

The statement made by J. H. Vose in the Courant of 
November 2nd, shows that no tidings of the missing men 
had yet been received. All that the wives and mothers 
knew was that their loved ones had been in the battle and 
had not been heard from since. 

The call made by Mr. Vose and Colonel Devens for 
supplies, helped to ease the agony of waiting by furnishing 
work that might be of use. The Courant of November gth, 
says : "We learn that the committee sent a box to our boys 
on Tuesday last, containing a full supply of undershirts, 
drawers, soft leather gloves, and a general assortment of 
stationery. A large supply of pamphlets and magazines 
were also sent, and sundry packages from relatives of the 
members of our company, the Light Guard." Blankets were 
also sent in great numbers. 

It was the middle of the month before definite infor- 
mation came in regard to the prisoners, and then the women, 
inspired by hope, worked harder than ever to provide for the 
needs of those confined in Richmond. Early in December, 
Chaplain Scanlon visited Clinton. He gave an address in 
Clinton Hall, and eloquently told the story of Ball's Bluff. 
Four recruits were sent from Clinton to Company C during 
December to help fill up the depleted ranks. 

The Fifteenth passed the winter quietly in camp. Al- 
though the men suffered somewhat from exposure, yet they 
were in a fair degree of health. The absence of Captain 
Bowman caused a serious relaxation of discipline at first, 
and the men who had sometimes complained of his strict- 
ness longed to be under his command once more. Finally, 
Richard Derby of Boston, an excellent officer, was put in 
command of the company. During the long winter, the 
men found camp life "dull," "wearisome," "monotonous," "an 
eternal grind." 

Meanwhile the prisoners passed life in a reasonable de- 
gree of comfort in Richmond. Captain Bowman, with 
several other commissioned officers, was kept in close con- 



RETURN OF PRISONERS. 



557 



finement in retaliation for treatment of Confederate priva- 
teers, but though "treated the same as persons charged with 
crime," they did not suffer seriously. J. P. Chenery, John 
Smith and H. O. Edgerly were carried to Salisbury, N. C, 
on December 2ist, where they had to undergo more hard- 
ships than those who were left behind in Richmond. As 
the prison surgeon at Richmond was in need of help, Sergt. 
W. A. Cook was detailed at the request of Union officers to 
aid in caring for the sick among the prisoners. Those con- 
fined in Richmond were paroled during the last of February 
and reached Clinton March ist. A great crowd welcomed 
them at the depot, and a reception was tendered them March 
7th. A sword was presented to Captain Bowman, and Frank- 
lin Forbes spoke as follows: 

" Captain Bowman and Soldiers of Company C: . 

"In the name of the citizens of Clinton, I bid you wel- 
come home! After the tedious preparation of the camp, 
after dangerous experience on the fields of battle, after irk- 
some captivity in the prisons of insolent rebels — welcome, 
thrice welcome home ! When, last July, you marched at 
your country's call, the citizens of Clinton adopted you as 
the representatives of their feelings and principles. After 
these eight months of trial, during which our anxious eyes 
have watched your every motion and vicissitude, we welcome 
you back as men who have honored their constituency. 
Your good behavior in the exercises of the camp culminated 
in the glorious discipline and courage displayed at Ball's 
Bluff. Whatever may have been the purpose or issue of 
that awful fight, the Fifteenth Regiment of Massachusetts 
Volunteers, and with it you. Captain Bowman and soldiers 
of Company C, Clinton's representatives, have gained im- 
mortal honor. That record is already in your country's 
history, and whatever may have been }'our sufferings, mental 
and corporeal, in the prisons of your enemies, the sym- 
pathies, praises and prayers of every Clinton true heart were 



558 FIFTEENTH, AND COMPANION REGIMENTS. 

for you. Again I say, welcome home ! Welcome as soldiers 
and sufferers in the cause of freedom, as supporters and 
defenders of the constitution and laws of our country, as 
foes of rebellion, secession and slavery, as friends of 'Liberty 
and Union, one and inseparable, now and forever.'" 

Captain Bowman was not exchanged until August 2nd, 
'62, and never rejoined his regiment. The Salisbury prison- 
oners were released May 22nd. 

The enlistments were not confined to the Fifteenth and 
the other regiments thus far mentioned, but were kept up 
with varying degrees of enthusiasm during the summer and 
autumn of 1861. Sometimes, these enlistments were the 
result of organized effort, sometimes they came from in- 
dividual inclinations. Race associations often caused men 
to enlist in particular companies and regiments. 

Four men of German race enlisted individually between 
July 18th and September 4th in the Twentieth Regiment. 
This was done so quietly that the local paper took no notice 
of it at the time. The regiment started from its camp at 
Readville, September 4th. It was assigned to General 
Stone's Corps of Observation, and took a conspicuous part, 
as we have already noted, in the battle of Ball's Bluff. We 
have no reason to suppose that either of the Clinton men 
suffered in this engagement. Like the Fifteenth, the Twen- 
tieth remained in camp near Edward's Ferry during the 
winter. Five others enlisted in Henry Wilson' famous regi- 
ment, the Twenty-second. On October 8th, this regiment 
went to Washington amid a constant series of ovations in- 
spired by the fame of its commander. It went into camp at 
Hall's Hill in the division under Fitz John Porter. 

Before the spring campaign opened, there was a thor- 
ough reorganization of the Virginia army. The Fifteenth was 
assigned to General Gorman's Brigade. This was the First 
Brigade of Sedgwick's Division of the Second Army Corps, 



PENINSULAR CAMPAIGN. 



559 



which was commanded by General Sumner. In the same 
division, in the Third Brigade, were the Nineteenth and 
Twentieth Massachusetts Regiments, in which six Clinton 
men had enlisted. The two men of the Nineteenth had 
been mustered in January, 1862. In the Third Corps, under 
General Heintzelman, were the Twenty-second, Ninth and 
Eleventh Regiments, in which twelve other Clinton men had 
enlisted. In the Fourth Corps, under General Keyes, in 
General Couch's Division, was the Seventh with its two 
Clinton men. Thus ninety men from the town had enlisted 
up to this time in the regiments which constituted General 
McClellan's army, seventy of these being in the Fifteenth 
and twenty in other regiments. Probably there were not 
more than fifty of these on actual duty at any one time 
during the spring. 

In March, Gorman's Brigade moved westward toward 
Winchester, and the Fifteenth was engaged in a skirmish 
with the rebels at Berryville. On the 29th, we find the regi- 
ment at Alexandria, ready to embark with the rest of 
McClellan's grand army for the Peninsular campaign. It is 
not necessary to enter into the details of this campaign. 
The Clinton men in the army took part in the siege of York- 
town, May 1-3. Those in Sedgwick's division were sent to 
the support of Franklin in his flank movement on West 
Point, where the Union troops were held in check by an 
attack made by the rebels on the 7th of May. In the latter 
part of the month, they were again with the main body of 
McClellan's army in the pestilential swamps of the Chicka- 
hominy. At Fair Oaks, they helped repulse the attack of 
Johnston. During the battle, the Fifteenth, with four other 
regiments, was ordered to charge on the enemy. General 
Walker says: "Our men at first advanced firing, but they 
gathered inspiration as they went, and when within fifty 
yards of the position where the foe still sullenly held the 
ground outside the woods, they broke into a cheer. A 
sharp clatter along the line told that the bayonets were 



560 FIFTEENTH, AND COMPANION REGIMENTS. 

fixed, and the five regiments in one long line sprang for- 
ward." Here, Alexander Lyle was wounded. General 
Gorman, writing of this contest to Governor Andrew, 
said: "Now that the smoke of the battle-field has cleared 
away, I cannot forbear taking the opportunity to testify to 
the gallant, soldierly conduct of the Fifteenth Regiment of 
your troops in our late contest, — the bloodiest in the war. 
It was their fortune to be participants in a real, not imag- 
inary, bayonet charge, made upon the most intrepid and 
daring of the rebel forces, at a critical moment for our 
cause. Most nobly and gallantly did they honor themselves 
and their gallant state." One of the Clinton boys wrote 
home : "The night after the battle, the regiment rested on 
their arms in the woods where the rebel dead and wounded 
were lying." 

During the month of June, our Clinton men breathed the 
miasma of the river bottoms, while McClellan was waiting 
for more troops and trying to make up his mind what to do 
next. From here, one of our Clinton men wrote that he had 
climbed a tree and seen the city of Richmond less than ten 
miles away. They were, alas, destined to come no nearer to 
the object of their longing for many weary months ! They 
joined that most "masterly" retrograde movement, when the 
union of Jackson with Lee forced McClellan to change his 
base to the James. In this movement, they fought at 
Gaines' Mill on the 27th, when the Ninth and Twenty-second 
were with Porter in his desperate struggle with Jackson. 
They fought at Savage Station June 2gth, where Magruder 
found "No thoroughfare written in letters of fire at every 
point of brave Sumner's line." They were in the struggle at 
Glendale, June 30th, where the Nineteenth and Twentieth 
Massachusetts won the greatest glory, and they were at the 
final victory of Malvern Hill, July 1st, by which the security 
of McClellan's new position was assured. Here, Charles 
Duncan of the Ninth fell, the first of Clinton heroes known 
to have been killed on the battle-field. While at Harrison 



PENINSULAR CAMPAIGN. 561 

Landing, William Diersch of the Twentieth was accidentally 
killed on July 4th. They lingered near the James for five 
weeks, until the defeat of the Union armies under Pope re- 
called McClellan, and then with sad hearts they followed 
their leader to the defense of Washington. 

During all of the Peninsular Campaign, not one Clinton 
man in the Fifteenth was killed or seriously wounded, not- 
withstanding the valor they had displayed on many hard- 
fought fields and the considerable losses experienced by the 
regiment as a whole. Many of them, however, were on the 
sick list, and the hard work done in fortifying and in repair- 
ing roads, the foul water, the exposure and the air of the 
swamps, rendered more deadly by decomposing bodies, were 
more destructive than the shot of the enemy. Many con- 
tracted diseases from which they never recovered, and two, 
Francis E. Smith and Sergeant Edward W. Benson, passed 
away before the summer was over. The former died July 
23d at the hospital on David's Island, New York. The latter 
died August 3d, while at home on a furlough, from a relapse 
of fever. Meanwhile, others had been discharged or were 
missing, so that of the sixty-six who had started out from 
Worcester the year before, fifteen were gone from the regi- 
ment never to return, four having been removed by death, 
five discharged for disability incurred in the service. Of the 
others, two had resigned, one had been transferred, one 
was discharged with the band, and two were missing. Some 
others were on detached service, partly on account of dis- 
ability. Most of those who had been prisoners did not 
rejoin the regiment until after the battle of Antietam, as 
they were paroled, but not exchanged. In August, seven 
more recruits were received, who were mustered in on the 
I2th.* These, with the four recruits of December, '61, give 
eleven recruits as a set-off to the fifteen lost, leaving a 
remainder of sixty-two out of the total of seventy-seven 
enlisted, who were still members of the regiment. 

* See Individual Record. 



562 FIFTEENTH, AND COMPANION REGIMENTS. 

Out of the twenty who had enlisted in the other regi- 
nrients attached to the Army of the Potomac, only six 
remained. This gives a possible total of sixty-eight Clinton 
men still in McClellan's army when it returned from the 
Peninsular Campaign, with probably less than forty on actual 
duty. 

Although General McClellan brought from the Peninsular 
a sadl)^ diminished army, yet it was an army of far greater 
effective force than it was when he had taken command of 
it a year before. The loose aggregation of troops under his 
admirable system of discipline and through hard experience, 
had become one of the most perfect armies the world has 
ever seen. Our Clinton men, who had endured the service 
up to this time, must henceforth be looked upon as hardened 
veterans. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

CLINTON MEN IN NORTH CAROLINA, AND THE 
VOLUNTEER RECORD. 

The Twenty-first Regiment received a large number of 
recruits from Clinton.* Many of these were of Irish birth. 
The enlistments, though numerous, do not seem to have been 
the result of any organized effort on the part of the people 
of the town. The only mention given to the subject in the 
Courant is a list of the officers of the regiment. As will be 
seen by consulting the individual record, there were eighteen 
Clinton men in the regiment, mostly in companies B and E. 
The average age of the men was about twenty-three, or two 
years less than that of the men in the Fifteenth. The mus- 
ter was somewhat informally conducted at the Agricultural 
Fair Grounds at Worcester, from August i6th to 23d, 1861, 
and more formally repeated in Maryland on the 17th of 
September following. The colonel of the regiment was 
Augustus Morse; the lieutenant-colonel, Albert C. Maggi ; 
the major, William S. Clark. 

Without delaying in Worcester, the Twenty-first set out 
for the seat of war on the 23d of August. It was in camp 
at Annapolis and Annapolis Junction for four months. 
During this time, nothing of any great importance occurred 
to break the regular routine of camp life. In December, it 
was assigned to General Reno's Brigade. 

The Twenty-fifth received a larger number of recruits 

* See Individual Record. 



564 CLINTON MEN IN NORTH CAROLINA. 

from Clinton than any other regiment, except the Fifteenth. 
The total number was thirty-nine, although there were only 
twenty-nine at first. During the last of August, Louis 
Wageley of Worcester, met the Germans of Clinton in an 
open field back of the school-house near the Lancaster Mills 
Bridge. He told them of his plan of organizing a company 
of Germans to join the Twenty-fifth Regiment. He per- 
suaded twenty-three men, nearly all of them operatives in 
Lancaster Mills, to serve under him.* The other members 
of Company G, of which Louis Wageley was captain, were 
mostly from Worcester. The average age of the Clinton 
men, which was over thirty-one, is especially noticeable as 
compared with that of the men who enlisted in the Fifteenth 
and Twenty-first. The other six men were in Companies A, 
C and E and in the band. 

The Twenty-fifth was mustered in at Camp Lincoln, on 
the Agricultural Fair Grounds in Worcester, during the 
month of October. Edwin Upton of Fitchburg, was made 
colonel ; Augustus B. R. Sprague, lieutenant-colonel, and 
Matthew J. McCafferty, major. The regiment was for- 
tunately supplied at once with Enfield rifles. On the 29th 
of October, Colonel Upton was ordered to report to General 
A. E. Burnside at Annapolis, Maryland. The following day, 
Governor Andrew reviewed the regiment. The battle of 
Ball's Bluff was then present in every mind, and the Gover- 
nor charged the Twenty-fifth to take righteous vengeance 
for the Massachusetts blood that had been shed in that un- 
equal contest. On the 31st, after a farewell of more than 
usual sadness, since those left behind could now realize, as 
they could not have done before Ball's Bluff, the dangers to 
which their loved ones would be exposed, they started for 
Annapolis. When they arrived, they went into quarters at 
Camp Hicks, near the city. In December, the regiment was 
organized in a brigade under General John S. Foster, with 

* See Individual Record. 



VOYAGE. 565 

the Twenty-third, Twenty-fourth and Twenty-seventh Massa- 
chusetts Volunteers and the Tenth Connecticut Volunteers. 
The Twenty-third contained three Clinton men, all in Com- 
pany H. This regiment was organized at Lynnfield, and on 
the i6th of November went into camp on the outskirts of 
Annapolis. The Twenty-fourth had one Clinton man. 
Abraham Childs of the Twenty-seventh, re-enlisted as from 
Clinton. 

General Foster's Brigade was made the First Brigade of 
the Coast Division; General Reno's Brigade, containing the 
Twenty-first Massachusetts, the Second, and General Parke's, 
the Third. Thus, the division contained fifty-one Clinton 
men. This Coast Division under General Burnside had the 
following work marked out for it during the winter and 
spring of 1862 : Capture Roanoke Island and all the posts 
north of it ; capture Newbern and the railroad going 
through it as far west as Goldsborough ; reduce Fort Macon 
and open Port Beaufort ; seize Raleigh, and destroy the 
Wilmington & Weldon Railroad. 

The regiments embarked January 6th, but lay at anchor 
in the harbor until the 9th. The fleet was perhaps the 
largest that has ever been gathered in American waters, and 
must have formed a most imposing spectacle as it moved 
from the harbor. The Twenty-first, under Lieutenant- 
colonel Maggi, as Colonel Morse remained at Annapolis, 
was on the transport Northerner, and the Twenty-fifth on the 
New York. As it was desirable that the points to be 
attacked should not be known to the rebels, lest they should 
be reenforced, the destination of the fleet was kept secret 
until it was well under way. Passing by Fortress Munroe 
and skirting along the shores of Virginia and North Caro- 
lina, the fleet rounded Cape Hatteras in a strong wind on the 
1 2th. Hatteras Inlet, which had been taken by a Union 
expedition under Commodore Stringham some months be- 
fore, is a small opening into the sea from Pamlico Sound. 



566 CLINTON MEN IN NORTH CAROLINA. 

It was at this time passable only under favorable circum- 
stances. Here, in the midst of terrible storms, causing 
severe sea sickness and constant danger of shipwreck, the 
larger transports lingered for two weeks. The water gave 
out, the food became unfit to eat. Altogether, the troops 
had a most miserable time. At last, on the 26th, the 
Northerner got through, and on the 31st, the New York 
passed into the open water of the Sound. 

It was the 5th of February before the fleet advanced to 
the attack of the rebel fortifications on Roanoke Island. 
"Eighty vessels started up Pamlico Sound with every flag 
flying, moving in precise order and with well-dressed lines." 
It was at this time that Sergt. Charles Plummer Tidd died. 
He had just been selected to take command of a band of 
sixty scouts. "Every man of the sixty was a good shot, 
fearless and strong, and Tidd the strongest and bravest of 
them all." On the 7th, Fort Barton, a rude fortification, was 
silenced by the gunboats. Then, the troops landed just at 
night, struggling through the deep water and mud to the 
shore. The next day, an advance was made, the Twenty- 
fifth Massachusetts taking the lead. The central redoubt of 
the enemy was reached and an engagement took place at a 
distance of about two hundred yards, which lasted for three 
hours. When the ammunition was exhausted, the regiment 
was commanded to withdraw and did so in good order. 
Later in the day, this regiment stayed a panic by its steadi- 
ness, when the New York Zouaves by mistake fired upon a 
Connecticut regiment. Three Clinton men of the Twenty- 
fifth were wounded during the day: Christian Lindhardt, in 
the hand; Ferdinand Schwam, in the hand; George Vetter, 
in the arm and breast. 

At last, General Reno advanced with the Second Brigade 
with the Twenty-first Massachusetts in the front. When the 
enemy had been driven in and they were near the redoubt, 
Reno ordered a bayonet charge. "The Twenty-first Regi- 
ment now came rapidly into line of battle and started for 



BATTLE OF ROANOKE ISLAND. 567 

the battery with a shout of exultation. The rebel garrison 
and reserves firing one more volley, turned and fled before 
our strong, unwavering line, and we poured into the battery, 
captured the rebel flag and planted our state colors on the 
parapet." Thus the key to the enemy's position was seized, 
and the island was surrendered with all the rebels who had 
failed to escape in the boats. Some two thousand six hun- 
dred and seventy-seven prisoners were taken. The rebel 
flags captured were ordered by the Massachusetts House of 
Representatives to "be displayed during the present session 
in the hall of the House as memorials of the heroic valor 
and energy of the men of the Twenty-first, Twenty-third, 
Twenty-fourth, Twenty-fifth and Twenty-seventh Regiments. 
The Speaker of the House said of the Twenty-first: "Led in 
their impetuous charge by a soldier of Garibaldi, they had 
plucked one of these trophies of victory from the very crest 
of battle." Patrick J. Dickson was the only Clinton man of 
the Twenty-first wounded in the engagement. Lieutenant- 
colonel Maggi resigned soon after this battle, and Major 
Clark took command of the Twenty-first. The Twenty-third 
Regiment took part in the battle of Roanoke Island, but 
with no casualties, as far as is known, to the Clinton men. 
The Twenty-fourth was not engaged until the very end of 
the conflict. 

On the I2th of March, the fleet moved once more and 
entered the Neuse River on its way to Newbern. On the 
13th, in the midst of a heavy rain, the Twenty-fifth landed. 
The men marched forward and passed the night, having 
come within range of the enemy's guns, lying on the ground, 
while the rain fell incessantly. The attack on the outworks 
began on the 14th. The First Brigade made the attack on 
the left of the enemy, where the fort and batteries were, 
while the Second and Third Brigades were to turn their right 
wing. The Twenty-fifth was exposed to a severe fire for 
some time, as the men fought on the edge of the wood before 
the fortifications of the enemy, where the main body of the 



568 CLINTON MEN IN NORTH CAROLINA. 

enemy was massed, but as they heard a cheer given by the 
advancing forces on the left, they became uncontrollable 
and, as Colonel Upton said: "The Twenty-fifth Massachu- 
setts sent up a hideous yell and sprang forward." • The 
enemy were panic stricken, although outnumbering their 
assailants, and, without waiting to meet them, fled. The 
Twenty-fifth pursued and captured some two hundred pris- 
oners. Meanwhile, on the left, the Twenty-first was severely 
engaged, and, as General Burnside reported, "from its ex- 
posed position and the daring of its officers and men, suffered 
the greatest loss." Four companies of this regiment charged 
on a battery of flying artillery and took the first gun from 
the enemy. Patrick J. Dickson was again wounded. The 
Twenty-third was not severely engaged at Newbern, 
but the Twenty-fourth lost heavily. There were no casual- 
ties among Clinton men. The rebels left Newbern and our 
troops entered the city. General Burnside said of his troops 
in this battle: "After a tedious march, dragging their how- 
itzers by hand through swamps and thickets, after a sleepless 
night passed in a drenching rain, they met the enemy in his 
chosen position, found him protected by strong earth-works, 
mounting many and heavy guns, and in an open field them- 
selves, they conquered. With such soldiers, advance is vic- 
tory." 

On the 17th of April, five regiments, among them the 
Twenty-first Massachusetts, under General Reno set out to 
make a demonstration on Camden. The Twenty-first landed 
at Elizabeth City at seven o'clock in the morning on the 19th 
and marched in an intense heat through deep mud to South 
Mills, a distance of some seventeen miles, reaching there 
about noon. The men were then sent round a considerable 
distance through underbrush to flank the line of the rebel 
fortifications, and there they fought a brisk battle, lasting until 
nearly night, and drove the rebels from the works. Having 
accomplished the object of the expedition they returned the 
seventeen miles to their boats, reaching them at five the next 



ABOUT NEWBERN. 569 

morning. A march of thirty-four miles and a sharp battle 
in twenty-two hours is a remarkable record. Thus ended 
the important work of the Twenty-first in North Carolina, 
as it was ordered to Virginia in the summer. Notwithstand- 
ing its difificult work, it carried back with it the seventeen or 
eighteen Clinton men with whom it had sailed from Annapo- 
lis in January. 

General Foster was made militar>' governor of Newbern. 
Company G of the Twenty-fifth, being especially musical, 
took a prominent part in the many entertainments the boys 
gave in the city, and, on the whole, led a happy and easy 
life. The men were not free from disease, however. On July 
9th, George Vetter died in Newbern, the first Clinton man lost 
from this regiment. August 6th, John Gordon of Company 
E was discharged for disability, to die at home on the 6th of 
the next month. Two other Clinton men were discharged 
for disability. Meanwhile, the regiment had received nine 
Clinton recruits. One more was added in August. This 
gives a total of thirty-five in the regiment at the close of the 
summer. Of the three in the Twenty-third Regiment, 
Jonathan Sawyer was discharged May 9th, and died at home 
May 29th. One was discharged in August for disability, 
leaving only one at Newbern. There was also one Clinton 
man in the Twenty-fourth, thus making thirty-seven in all, 
in the city. 

The history of the Twenty-fifth and its companion regi- 
ments, which remained in North Carolina for the next )'ear 
and a half is an uneventful one. They took part in several 
expeditions and fought in a number of minor battles, such as 
Kingston, Whitehall, Goldsborough and Gum Swamp, but we 
have no record that any Clinton man was injured in these 
battles, although Francis A. Bowers lost his right arm while 
on garrison duty at Hill's Point. The regiment did not, 
however, escape disease, which is generally more destructive 
among soldiers than the bullets of the enemy. November 3, 
1862, William F. Klein died at Newbern, N. C. Eight were 



570 CLINTON VOLUNTEERS. 

discharged for disability. This left twenty-five Clinton men 
in the ranks. 

The last man from Clinton left in the Twenty-third, was 
discharged for disability, August 14, 1863. One, Edward 
Maloy, remained in the Twenty-fourth, but, as he died at 
home of consumption, April 19, 1864, he must have left the 
regiment while it was in North Carolina. The Fifth and 
Fifty-first, nine months regiments, joined the Twenty-fifth 
in North Carolina. In each of these, there were two Clinton 
men. As these men were mustered in September, 1862, their 
term of service expired in June, 1863. Thus there were only 
twenty-five Clinton men in all, in North Carolina, September 
I, 1863. This number remained unchanged until the spring 
of 1864. 

In September and October of 1861, three Clinton men 
enlisted in the First Massachusetts Cavalry. This regiment 
went into camp at Readville, and the companies in which the 
Clinton men served, during the spring of 1862 were in the 
Department of the South at Hilton Head, Beaufort and near 
Charleston. It took part in no serious engagement before 
September, 1862, when it joined the Army of the Potomac. 
One was mustered into the Twenty-eighth Infantry Reg- 
iment, which also served in the Department of the South 
until it was assigned to the Ninth Corps and joined its for- 
tunes with those of the Twenty-first under Pope. 

The lack of success in Virginia convinced the authorities 
at Washington that more troops would be needed, so that 
the recruiting, which had been unwisely stopped, was begun 
again. Lincoln's call for three hundred thousand more 
troops on July 2d caused a deeper excitement in Clinton 
than had been felt since the disaster of Ball's Bluff. Patri- 
otism on the one hand, and the fear of a draft on the other, 
inspired all to use every effort to see that Clinton's quota 
should be filled up by volunteering. 

July loth, a meeting of citizens was held to devise meas- 



RECRUITING. 



571 



ures for raising the desired number of men. A committee, 
consisting of Franklin Forbes, H. C. Greeley, J. H. Vose, J. 
T. Dame and Josiah Alexander, Jr., was chosen to take the 
whole matter into consideration and report on Monday, July 
14th. The posters for the meeting of Monday, said: ''Our 
country and humanity call us. Let us show by our response 
to their demand for men and means, that we are not forget- 
ful of our obligations to preserve the inheritance bequeathed 
us by our fathers; that we have hearts to feel for those who 
have braved the perils of battle and have felt the rebels' lead 
and steel." The meeting proved a very enthusiastic one. 
The com.mittee reported on the authority of the adjutant- 
general that no draft need be feared for the present and that, 
if any such draft should occur in the future, all the men that 
Clinton furnished would surely be placed to her credit. "It 
is," said Mr. Forbes, "the voluntary marching forth of free 
men in defence of the government and the laws which pro- 
tect them and of the flag which they love and which they 
will never suffer to be hauled down, much less trampled upon 
by rampant rebellion or braggart slavocracy." A committee 
was appointed to assist the selectmen in recruiting, and vari- 
ous recommendations, tending in the same direction, were 
voted on. In recommending a bounty, Mr. Forbes in behalf 
of the committee, said that it was not given with the idea of 
"paying men in full for services rendered, nor as an offset 
for hardships and dangers to be undergone, nor as a stimu- 
lant to doubtful patriotism or reluctant courage, but as a fra- 
ternal help, a facility to aid them to go forth speedily to the 
battles, which the love of their country, or for the country 
of their adoption, urges them to fight." 

On the 22d, a town meeting was held with the following 
result: Voted, "that the sum of six thousand dollars be 
appropriated for the payment of bounties to such soldiers, 
inhabitants of this town, as may be enlisted for the war. 

"Voted, that the town pa\' the sum of one hundred dol- 
lars to each inhabitant thereof, volunteering for the war, to 



572 



CLINTON VOLUNTEERS. 



form the quota called for by the adjutant-general, such 
bounty to become due and payable to such soldier on his 
acceptance and taking the requisite oaths as a volunteer. 

"Voted, that any inhabitant of this town, who as such 
inhabitant has already enlisted under the President's call for 
three hundred thousand men, been accepted and taken the 
requisite oaths, shall be entitled to and receive the same 
bounties as those hereafter enlisting. 

"Voted, that no inhabitant of Clinton enlisting into the 
service of the United States be considered as entitled to the 
bounty, who does not cause his name to be entered on the 
muster roll as such inhabitant."* 

Great amounts of hospital supplies were prepared and 
forwarded. The ladies, feeling that some permanent organi- 
zation for the relief of soldiers and their families was needed, 
held a meeting July 31st. August 1st, a second meeting was 
held, the organization completed and the following board of 

* This advertisement appeared for some weeks in the Courant: — 
" Citizens of Clinton TO THE RESCUE ! Sixty-nine Recruits 
Wanted! |;ioo Town Bounty! Sixty-nine Recruits are wanted from 
this Town to fill up Regiments already in the field, and as an induce- 
ment, the Town of Clinton offers a bounty of ONE HUNDRED DOL- 
LARS, to be paid to each man on his being mustered into the United 
States service. They will also receive $25 BOUNTY, ONE MONTH'S 
PAY IN ADVANCE, AND $75 AT THE END OF THE WAR! 
"Young men, now is your time! Come to the call of your country! 
"The Selectmen are authorized by the Commander-in-Chief to raise 
the above-named number. Also, in connection with the Selectmen, the 
following named gentlemen are authorized to recruit in Clinton: Col. G. 
M. Palmer, Edwin A. Harris, Lieut. A. L. Fuller, Donald Cameron, G. W. 
Beck, F. Forbes, E. K. Gibbs, J. H. Vose, Henry N. Bigelow, Maj. C. C. 
Stone, J. T. Dame, Felix Nugent, J. Alexander, Jr., H. C. Greeley, D. B. 
Ingalls, H. Eddy. 

" '^W An office is opened in the Bigelow Library Building, where 
some of the members of the Committee will be happy to wait on all who 
wish to enlist. Also, at the Store of J. F. Maynard, on Union Street. 

" Per Order of Selectmen, 
"Clinton, July 19, 1862," 



CLINTON SOLDIERS' AID SOCIETY. 



573 



directors elected: Franklin Forbes, president; Gilbert 
Greene, treasurer; H. C. Greeley, secretary; Mrs. J. F. 
Maynard, Mrs. J. M. Heard, Mrs. C. W. Field, Mrs. C. G. 
Stevens. The balance of the fund collected for the Light 
Guard, some three hundred and fifty dollars, was given to 
this association. This circular was issued: " Every inhabi- 
tant of Clinton, young and old, male and female, is consti- 
tuted a member, and is invited to cooperate. No conditions 
of membership are required except a heart in sympathy with 
the cause." The following is the constitution of the society, 
adopted at a public meeting of the citizens of Clinton, held 
at Clinton Hall, August i, 1862: 

"We, the people of Clinton, hereby organize ourselves 
under the name of the 'Clinton Soldiers' Aid Society,' for the 
purpose of furnishing assistance and relief to Union soldiers 
and the families of all such in Clinton, during the present 
war. The whole power and authority of our association shall 
be vested in seven directors, three gentlemen and four ladies, 
who shall choose from their own number a president, secre- 
tary and treasurer, and may select and appoint any other 
officers, committees and agents at their discretion. They 
may also make regulations for their own conduct, and are 
empowered to fill all vacancies in their own board." 

The circular continues: "A room in the Bigelow Library 
building is opened every day from two to five p. m., for the 
meeting of all interested in the welfare of our brothers, who 
are fighting in our behalf for the cause of liberty and law. 
To this may be carried all articles intended for the soldiers' 
use, whether in camp or hospital, and here, all information 
respecting the soldier, his wants, his wishes, and his history 
can be received and imparted, and all measures for his good 
and for the good of his family can be presented, discussed 
and forwarded. The directors will keep a record of all arti- 
cles sent in and of their donors, and will hasten them to their 
destination. The articles indicated by the United States 
Sanitary Commission as most wanted, are shirts, drawers, 



574 



CLINTON VOLUNTEERS. 



towels, handkerchiefs, pillow-cases, socks, sheets, pillows, 
quilts, bed-ticks, cushions, lint, bandages, old muslin, old 
cotton cloth, old linen, second-hand pants, coats and vests." 
The rooms were opened August 8th, and daily meetings 
were held. 

August nth and 15th, a Drill Club was organized with 
Franklin Forbes, Maj. C. C. Stone and G. W. Weeks as direc- 
tors. Sixty-two names were enrolled at the second meeting. 

Meanwhile, private patriotism and generosity helped on 
the work. Franklin Forbes offered ten dollars each to the 
first ten men who would enlist from Lancaster Mills, with 
the promise that they should have their places in the mill on 
their return. To the same ten men, Donald Cameron offered 
five dollars apiece more. On Sunday, August lOth, a war 
meeting was held in the Baptist Church, at which Rev. C. 
M. Bowers offered a copy of the Scriptures, costing twelve 
dollars, to each of the first four, who would enlist from his 
congregation. 

August 4th, occurred the funeral of Sergt. Edward W. 
Benson. This was the first public funeral of a soldier that had 
taken place in town. The services were conducted by Rev. 
J. M. Heard, assisted by Rev. Mr. Fairchild of Sterling, and 
were of the most impressive character. Various organiza- 
tions followed the body to the cemetery. The military band 
of the Thirty-fourth Regiment played the funeral dirge and 
a military salute was fired above his open grave. The funeral 
as a whole was not only a solemn honor paid to the dead 
soldier, but it was also an appeal to "the devotion and patri- 
otism of the surviving, to fill the broken ranks." 

As a result of all this depth of feeling and a vast amount of 
individual work, fifty-eight were enrolled during July and 
August. As a whole, the class of men that enlisted was surely 
not inferior to those who had enlisted under the first call for 
troops. It was, however, a very different thing to enlist, 
when all the horrors of war were fully realized, from what it 
was when those, who went forth, did not know what was be- 



THE THIRTY-FOURTH. 



575 



fore them. No simple money inducement could have counted 
for much in comparison with the dangers to be met and the 
labors to be undergone. Even with the bounties given, the 
wages of the men were very small compared with what most 
of them received at home. There is no doubt that it 
required as much personal patriotism to enlist in 1862 as in 
1861. 

We have alread}- noted that eight of the new recruits 
enlisted in the Twent}'-fifth Regiment and seven in the Fif- 
teenth. Two entered the navy. There were three who re- 
ceived town bounties at this time, of whom no record of 
service has been found. In the Thirty-fourth Regiment, 
eleven Clinton men were enrolled. Two other men, who 
were connected with Clinton, but enlisted elsewhere, joined 
this regiment. This Thirty-fourth Regiment was provided 
for by Governor Andrew's order of the 29th of May, 1862, 
before Lincoln's call for three hundred thousand more troops 
was issued. The first recruits arrived at Camp Gen. John E. 
Wool in Worcester, as early as June 13th, and the Courant 
of June 14th, speaks of recruiting being carried on in Clinton 
and vicinity. It was not, however, until the first of August, 
that the last of the eleven Clinton men were mustered into 
the regiment.* George D. Wells of Boston was made colonel ; 
William S. Lincoln of Worcester, lieutenant-colonel ; and 
Henry Bowman of Clinton, major. The latter had not yet 
been exchanged, and, before the exchange was made, he had 
received another commission, so that he never served in the 
Thirty-fourth. The regiment left Worcester for Washington 
August 15th, and went into Camp Worcester, three miles 
from Alexandria. It took little part in any of the exciting 
scenes of the next few months, as it belonged to the forces 
to which the defence of the capital was assigned as a special 
duty. As Horatio E. Turner had been editor of the Courant, 
the people of Clinton were kept thoroughly informed of the 
doings of the Thirty-fourth through his interesting letters. 

*See Individual Record. 



5;6 CLINTON VOLUNTEERS. 

The Thirty -sixth Regiment received thirty of the Clinton 
recruits,* twenty-five of whom enlisted in Company G. The 
regiment was organized in Worcester at Camp John E. Wool 
during the month of August. At first, the ofifice of colonel 
was offered to Lieutenant-colonel John W. Kimball of the 
Fifteenth, but it was not thought best to separate him from 
the regiment, with which he had been so long connected, at 
so difficult a crisis. Much to the joy of the Clinton men, 
Henry Bowman was made colonel, and James H. Barker, 
major. S. Henry Bailey of Northboro was made captain of 
Company G. On August 30th, soon after Colonel Bowman 
arrived in camp, he received orders to have the regiment in 
readiness to set out September 2d. Furloughs had been 
promised the men before they left for the front, but they 
had not been granted. They were now hastily given and 
eagerly taken, yet nearly every man was ready to start on 
the morning of the appointed date. As had become cus- 
tomary, a flag was presented to the regiment. The friends 
of Colonel Bowman in Clinton presented him with a fine 
horse and its equipments. 

The regiment embarked at Boston on the Merrimac, and 
reached Alexandria on the 6th. The following private 
letter, received from Colonel Bowman, shows the first move- 
ments of his command: 

"Camp Forbes, near Leesboro, Md., 
September 10, 1862. 
''My Dear Mr. Forbes: 

"Here I am temporarily located with my regiment, in 
one of the most benighted places that it is possible to 
imagine. While at Alexandria, where we remained Saturday 
night, I was ordered to report to General Burnside at this 
place. On my arrival here, I found that the general, with his 
command, had left for a point some miles beyond. I go 
forward in the morning, leaving my command here, to 

* See Individual Record. 



THE THIRTY-SIXTH. 577 

report, which will probably result in joining the general's 
command. The distance from Washington here is about 
eleven miles, over a road which was so dusty that I could 
not see the distance of three companies. We were on the 
road from half-past five o'clock in the morning until three 
o'clock in the afternoon, the men marching with their knap- 
sacks. It is considered here a great march for men who have 
so recently taken the field, * * * and I really think it is 
grand for our first attempt. The rear guard, which is made 
up of the left flank company, and which alwa3^s comes after 
the baggage train, was saved the disagreeable duty of pick- 
ing up the first thing in the form of equipments, or any 
article belonging to the men. 

"Our train is made up of one ambulance and four 
baggage wagons. Our motive power consists of eighteen 
green mules, who never saw a harness until last Monday 
morning; they were taken from a lot consisting of some 
three hundred. The catching and attaching them to the 
wagons was the most laughable performance I ever wit- 
nessed. * * * 

"I have taken the liberty of an order to the regiment 
naming this camp which we now occupy, and all camps 
which we may hereafter occupy, after yourself, trusting that 
it will meet with your approval. 

"My experiment of giving furloughs to the men just be- 
fore leaving the state, was a perfect success, my first morning 
report giving only five short for the whole regiment — quite 
as small a per cent as regiments will average." * * * 

Notwithstanding the large number of enlistments, the 
quota of Clinton for the call of July 2d was not quite full, 
and there was much fear of a draft, although Clinton had 
sent, before the call was made, far more than her pro- 
portionate share of troops. This draft was ordered by the 
President for September 3d. C. G. Stevens was the commis- 
sioner for Worcester County. As this date approached, 



578 CLINTON VOLUNTEERS. 

there was a remarkable increase in age among a certain class 
of people. One man, it is said, lived fourteen years in a 
single night ; another, ten. Diseases before unheard of, be- 
gan to abound. It was the worst season for chronic com- 
plaints ever known in our history. Anything to escape the 
draft ! There were one hundred and forty-three exempts in 
Clinton. The fatal date arrived, but the draft was postponed 
to the 17th. It was again postponed to October ist, and 
again to October 15th, and finally Clinton escaped it al- 
together for a season. 

At the same time, a vigorous effort was made to fill up the 
quota of nine months' men asked for under Lincoln's call for 
troops, August 4th. At a town meeting held August 23d, it 
was voted : "That the selectmen be authorized to pay the 
sum of ^100 to each inhabitant of Clinton, who shall volun- 
teer and be mustered into the service of the United States 
as part of the quota of Clinton, for the nine months' service 
called for by the President, August 4, 1862, to the number of 
one hundred." At a citizens' meeting, held August 28th, at 
which C. G. Stevens presided, C. L. Swan offered ten dollars 
in addition to the bounty to the first five men who would 
enlist. J. H. Ring offered five more. J. H. Vose, who had 
been authorized by the selectmen to recruit a company for a 
Worcester County regiment, made the principal speech of 
the occasion. During the afternoon of September 6th, all 
places of business were closed in Clinton, cannons were fired, 
bells were rung, and the people gathered in H. N. Bigelow's 
grove, at the head of Church Street, in a grand patriotic 
meeting. Hon. A. H. Bullock gave an address. Thirty-five 
nine months' men enlisted before October from the town 
which had seemed already depleted of all its able-bodied 
young men.* 

It may be well to pause here, and see how the record of 
Clinton up to this time compares with that of other towns 

*See Individual Record. 



OUR GLORIOUS RECORD. 579 

in the state. It must be remembered that the Clinton of 
today is a much larger town than the Clinton of the war. In 
i860, the population of the town was three thousand eight 
hundred and sixty-nine. In 1862, the total number of en- 
rolled citizens liable to military duty was four hundred and 
forty-six, of whom one hundred and forty-three were ex- 
empted on examination for the draft, leaving a total of only 
three hundred and three liable to military duty. The quota 
of Clinton, according to the report of the Adjutant-general, 
was one hundred and fifty-five, and the number of three 
years' men furnished previous to 1863 was two hundred and 
sixteen, figures that agree practically with those which have 
been given, if we make allowance for some eight men who 
enlisted from other states and were credited to Clinton. The 
town had thus furnished about one hundred and thirty-nine 
per cent, of her required quota. Natick, according to the 
same report, had furnished one hundred and forty-one per 
cent, of her required quota, but Natick furnished only two 
nine months' men, while Clinton furnished thirty-five. (The 
adjutant-general allows the town thirty-seven.) 

If we say, then, that Clinton had furnished up to this 
time two hundred and fifty-two men, this gives the town 
a record of one hundred and sixty-one per cent, of her 
quota, or, if we reduce the time of service of the nine 
months' troops to a basis of three years' service, one hundred 
and forty-five per cent. This gives Clinton a slight excess 
over Natick, and not another town in the state at this time 
approached these two. Natick's large enlistment came 
from the great enthusiasm awakened in raising the regiment 
of her famous citizen, Henry Wilson. For those who under- 
stand them aright, these figures are wonderfully eloquent. 
They show that Clinton in the time of the country's greatest 
need gave the service of her sons more freely than any other 
town of the Old Bay State, a state whose patriotism was 
surpassed by none. 

Although the honor due to those who entered the army 



580 CLINTON VOLUNTEERS. 

cannot be overestimated, yet we should err greatly, if we 
deemed this glorious record of our town due solely to their 
self-sacrificing patriotism. Patriotism must be inspired, 
directed and organized before it can act. If the state of 
Massachusetts places among the foremost on the roll of its 
war heroes the names of John A. Andrew, Charles Sumner 
and Henry Wilson, the town of Clinton may well find a 
place on its rolls for the names of those who kept the fires 
of patriotism burning and by their efforts made it possible 
for so many men to leave their homes and enter the army. 

We are told that corporations have no souls. But during 
the war the Lancaster Mills corporation did have a soul, a 
soul instinct with patriotism, and that soul was Franklin 
Forbes. Every man in the mills knew that the volunteer 
would be specially honored; that, if possible, his place would 
be kept for him until his term of service was over; that 
every facility would be given to his family for securing sup- 
port, and that if the worst came to worst, his dear ones would 
never suffer from want while the blood ran warm in the heart 
of the agent. Not only in the mills, but throughout the 
town was his potent influence felt. How often did his ring- 
ing words arouse men to action ; how often did his generous 
gifts inspire to patriotic charity; how often did his sagacious 
counsels lead in the paths of wisdom. Franklin Forbes had 
many characteristics in common with Joseph Warren of 
Revolutionary fame. He had the same broad-minded 
patriotism, fed through liberal culture from all the glorious 
examples of history ; he had the same philosophic mind 
which sees the principles underlying facts and can forecast 
the future from the experience of the past; he had the same 
executive ability which can change ideas into realities; he 
had the same burning zeal, ever forgetful of self. We are 
told that he was scarcely able to be restrained from going to 
the front where, like Warren at Bunker Hill, he would gladly 
have laid down his life for his country. Since then he 
worked no less zealously and no less effectively for the good 



FRANKLIN FORBES. 



581 



of the country than the bravest and ablest who entered the 
army, let us find some place for his name upon our roll of 
honor. 

And not for his alone, for there were many other men 
who were obliged to stay at home, who gave without stint 
of their means and energies. And the women ! What 
sacrifices they paiently endured, nay, eagerly sought ! Sacri- 
fices as great as those made by their soldier husbands and 
brothers. The very air of Clinton was electric with patriot- 
ism. Currents passed from soul to soul, and the zeal of 
each drew strength from the zeal of all. Hence our glorious 
record. 



CHAPTER XXXV. 
FROM ANTIETAM TO GETTYSBURG. 

In the early autumn of 1862, we find the Clinton troops 
gathering from various quarters to the banks of the Potomac 
to help repel the threatened invasion ; the men of the 
Twenty-first from their successes in North Carolina; the men 
of the Fifteenth and its companion regiments from the dis- 
appointed hopes of the Peninsular ; the new recruits of the 
Fifteenth, Thirty-fourth and Thirty-sixth fresh from their 
northern homes. In all, there may have been a hundred 
Clinton men on actual duty in the converging forces. 

The great drama opened with the defeat of the Army of 
Virginia under General Pope. When Jackson gained the 
victory of Cedar Mountain, the Second Regiment with its 
three Clinton men, was in the discomforted army of Banks. 
The cautious Halleck, who was then in command at Wash- 
ington, diverted Burnside's reenforcements intended for the 
Army of the Potomac to the aid of Pope, and ordered 
McClellan to hasten to the defence of the capitol. McClellan's 
withdrawal from before Richmond, gave Lee his opportunity 
to join Jackson and thus unite the rebel forces in Virginia 
against Pope before McClellan's troops could join him. 

When the blow fell at Manassas Junction on August 29th 
and 30th, the Twenty-first was present. Under the command 
of General Reno, this regiment, with the Fifty-first Penn- 
sylvania and Fifty-first New York, formed the rear guard, 
and at the close of the second day ably repulsed three 
successive charges by large forces of the enemy, and thus 



CHANTILLY. 



583 



saved the retreat from being turned into a rout. It was here 
that Corporal John Quinn was wounded in the arm. 

Two days after, our Clinton men of the same regiment 
were among the victims of the terrible blunder at Chantilly. 
The Fifty-first New York had been commanded to advance 
a short distance into the woods and wait for further orders. 
A little later, the Twenty-first Massachusetts was ordered to 
follow. As the early darkness was being hastened by a thick 
thunder cloud, the Twenty-first lost its way and passed by 
the New York regiment. After struggling through the 
woods with broken lines, the men suddenly found themselves 
within twenty yards of a large body of troops. The}' 
speedily formed the lines, doubtful whether they had met 
friend or foe. "Then," says one of their number, "while 
most of our poor fellows were standing with their guns at 
the shoulder, one of the deadliest volleys ever fired rolled 
upon us from our right and front. In the sudden anguish 
and despair of the moment, the whole regiment seemed to 
be lying bleeding on the ground ; indeed, almost every 
man who had stood in the more open spaces of the wood, 
did fall ; yet there still was a Twenty-first, and a Twenty-first 
that could fight; some standing still in line, some from be- 
hind the trees, we opened fire on our brutal enemy." The 
rain, however, hindered the use of their guns, and they were 
obliged to retire. On the list of wounded, we find the names 
of William Cohen, Patrick Malony and Patrick Meehan of 
Company B, and it was here that John McRobie lost his 
arm. The Second Regiment, though present at Manassas 
and Chantilly, had little fighting to do, and no Clinton names 
appear in the list of those who suffered. 

Pope's disasters, and the evident need that all move- 
ments should be directed by a single head, forced the 
authorities at Washington to place McClellan in command. 
He at once began to bring order out of confusion.* When 

*In the army of McClellan, as organized September 14th, we find 
from Clinton: In the right wing, Ninth Army Corps, Second Division, 



584 FROM ANTIETAM TO GETTYSBURG. 

Lee passed into Maryland, McClcilan, through his own de- 
lays and those of Franklin, lost the opportunity of destroy- 
ing the rebel army in detail, presented to him through his 
knowledge of Lee's plans. Having fought with only a 
doubtful degree of success the two battles of South Mountain, 
in which the Twenty-first and Seventh were engaged, with- 
out casualties to Clinton men, he finally met the reunited 
troops of Lee on nearly equal terms at Antietam. 

In this battle, all that remained of the Clinton troops in 
the Second, Seventh, Ninth, Eleventh, Fifteenth, Nine- 
teenth, Twentieth, Twenty-first, Twenty-second, and Twenty- 
eighth Massachusetts Regiments were engaged. Although 
these numbered ninety-three on the rolls, yet it is probable 
that not more than sixty were on the field, as Company B 
of the Twenty-first was detailed for duty elsewhere on that 
day, and many of the Ball's Bluff prisoners from the 
Fifteenth were not yet exchanged. The First Cavalry, with 
its three men from Clinton, was. present, but not severely 
engaged. The Thirty-sixth, with its thirty men from 
Clinton, was near at hand, and was prevented from being in 
action by a mistake of Colonel Bowman's. On the 15th of 
September, he received a scrap of paper with an order 
scrawled upon it in pencil, purporting to come from General 
McClellan, commanding all the troops to go forward as 

Second Brigade, the Twenty-first Massachusetts, seventeen CHnton men. 
In the centre, Second Army Corps, First Division, Second Brigade, the 
Twenty-eighth Massachusetts, one Clinton man; Second Division, First 
Brigade, the Fifteenth Massachusetts, sixty-two Chnton men; Third 
Brigade, the Nineteenth Massachusetts, two Chnton men, and the 
Twentieth, one CHnton man; Twelfth Army Corps, First Division, Third 
Brigade, the Second Massachusetts, four Clinton men. In the left wing, 
Sixth Army Corps, Third Division, First Brigade, the Seventh Massa- 
chusetts, one Clinton man; the Fifth Army Corps, First Division, First 
Brigade, the Twenty-second Massachusetts, two Clinton men; Second 
Brigade, Ninth Massachusetts, three Clinton men. This gives a possible 
total of ninety-three Clinton men, provided every man of those who had 
enlisted and had not died or been discharged was in active service. 



ANTIETAM. 



585 



rapidly as possible. The colonel did not believe this order 
to be genuine and waited further developments and, thus, 
the Thirty-sixth was kept from the battle. The Thirty- 
fourth was in the force near Washington. 

It will be remembered that it was McClellan's plan to 
attack the rebel left with the Union right, supported by such 
of the centre as should be necessary, and, as soon as success 
seemed probable, to move the Union left against the rebel 
right and, according to the success of these movements, to 
push forward his centre. On McClellan's right, Hooker 
with the First Army Corps advanced, and, after his troops 
had been used up, Mansfield with the Twelfth Corps (three 
Clinton men), followed, too late to help Hooker. His 
troops, in their turn, had lost all effective force before 
Sumner's Second Corps appeared. As the majority of the 
Clinton men engaged were in this corps, in Sedgwick's 
Division, in the Fifteenth, Nineteenth and Twentieth Regi- 
ments, let us follow more minutely the advance of this body, 
Sedgwick's Second Division advances first, with Gorman's 
Brigade in the lead. The troops cross the stream, pass 
through the woods, through a field of high corn, over the 
pike, by Dunker's Church, where Hooker's wounded and 
dying lay. Suddenly a withering fire is opened upon them. 
French and Richardson were supposed to follow immediately 
after, so that they and Sedgwick might attack together and 
present a line of sufficient length to prevent the enemy from 
getting on their left, as they moved toward the right, where 
they expected to join Hooker and Mansfield. But, as has 
already been said, the First and Twelfth Corps had ceased to 
exist as an effective force, so that Sedgwick's Division 
practically formed the extreme right, and the other divisions 
of the Second Corps being delayed, Sedgwick was left alone 
with his three brigades to meet ten brigades of the rebels. 

The position is this : Our men are on an elevation ; across 
a small valley, in front, is the artillery of the enemy on an- 
other ridge. On the slope of this ridge there is a farm-house, 

39 



586 FROM ANTIETAM TO GETTYSBURG. 

a barn and many stacks of corn, which offer protection to 
the rebels. The Union lines are rapidly re-formed under 
fire, and Gorman's Brigade is on the left, the Fifteenth to 
the left of the brigade, and Company C on the left of the 
Fifteenth. You will remember that French was supposed 
to be close at the left of Sedgwick, but he was not there. 
The enemy take the advantage thus offered and a large force 
of the rebels is seen advancing from the left upon the flank. 
They halt in a ravine. Company C, being on the extreme 
left, is exposed beyond all others. The rebels fire up hill 
and therefore can aim effectually, while our boys naturally 
fire over their heads and accomplish little. Meanwhile, the 
fire never ceases from the front. Under this cross-fire the 
air is full of bullets bearing their messages of death. Here 
is the highest test of courage. In the charge, a wild exulta- 
tion of spirit sweeps men onward, but to stand unmoved in 
the midst of certain defeat with comrades falling around like 
grass under the scythe of the mower, this requires a courage 
which has in it something that is godlike. In twenty min- 
utes, from the sixty-eight members of Company C, three 
have been killed, two taken prisoners and forty-one wounded. 
Yet the little remnant stand, loading and firing as coolly as 
upon the field of parade. Finally, Sumner is informed of the 
situation, and Major Kimball receives orders to move to the 
right as soon as possible. This is done in perfect order. 
Sedgwick told Devens the next day, "Your old Fifteenth 
was magnificent yesterday; no regiment in the regular army 
ever fought better." 

Although the victory at Antietam was afterwards ours, 
the Fifteenth, and especially Company C, had again been 
sacrificed to a mistake. Perhaps a little over forty Clinton 
men entered the fight in the Fifteenth Regiment. Of these, 
three were killed outright: Zadoc C. Batterson, John Frazer, 
and Charles E. Holbrook. Two more, Leonard M. Towsley 
and William Eccles, died soon after, from wounds received 
in this battle. Hiram A. Chambers, a Clinton man credited 



LOSSES. 



587 



to Worcester, was among the killed. Waldo B. Maynard, a 
Clinton man credited to Northboro, was wounded so that he 
soon died. Nineteen others were wounded, more or less 
seriously: Thomas H. Burgess, John E. Carruth, Thomas 
Caulfield, Trustum D. Dexter, Joseph S. Dickson, Isaac P. 
Connig, Charles Frazer, Gustave Graichen, Charles H. Hap- 
good, Henry B. Holman, Gilman W. Laythe, Oren A. Laythe, 
Alexander Lord, Theodore E. Lowe, Joseph E. Miner, Her- 
vey B. Olcott, George F. Osgood, Otis S. Osgood, Alfred 
Smith. Two were taken prisoners : George F. Osgood 
and Thomas Caulfield. Not more than one-third of those 
who went on to the field came back uninjured. Of the seven 
Clinton recruits, who had just joined the company, every one 
suffered. 

On the Union left, Burnside, with the Ninth Corps, was 
ordered to carry the stone bridge between himself and the 
enemy. The carrying out of this order was long delayed, 
but was at last intrusted to the brigade of General Crook, 
with the division of Sturgis as a supporting column. The 
Twenty-first Massachusetts was in this division. Sturgis 
reached the bridge before Crook, as the latter had lost his 
way. This division carried the bridge. At this time, the 
regiment lost about one-third of its men. Here, Patrick 
Burke of Company E was wounded in the leg, Luther E. 
Stewart of Company G was wounded in the face, and Charles 
R. Renner of Company F, in the head. Gilbert A. Cheney 
of the Second, a Clinton man credited to Newton, also re- 
ceived a wound here from which he died in October. 

The news of the battle of Antietam, with the slowly arriv- 
ing record of killed and wounded, caused the deepest anxiety 
and grief in Clinton. Dr. G. M. Morse was sent by the Sol- 
diers' Aid Society to look after the wounded soldiers and to 
forward to their homes the bodies of the dead. If we would 
adequately realize the sacrifices of the war, we must follow 
the wounded to the hospitals and must see them as their flesh 
quivers under the steel of the surgeon or festers with gan- 



588 FROM ANTIETAM TO GETTYSBURG. 

grene; we must see them tossing with the fever or slowly 
wasting away; we must stand by the bedside of the dying; 
we must enter the northern homes and see the aged mother 
as she reads the list of the dead, expecting that the next 
name may be that of her only son; we must see the wife as 
she strives to reach her wounded husband whom death may 
claim ere the slow steam can bring her to his side; we must 
see the widow as she hopelessly mourns her loss. 

In a letter written on the 5th of October, from Bolivar 
Heights, to the Courant, William J. Coulter said: "Company 
C at the present time numbers seventeen men for duty, in- 
cluding drummer and bugler. Any one would not recognize 
in it the 'Clinton Light Guard' of old, who about five months 
since encamped on these same heights and almost on the 
same ground they occupy now. Things have changed won- 
derfully since last March. The company was nearly full 
then, and each man was confident of at least seeing an end 
put to this rebellion, if nothing more, by the coming fall. 
* * * Now, they see a prospect of being in the service dur- 
ing their full term of enlistment. * * * But you must not 
think from what I have said that the Clinton boys are dis- 
couraged. Far from it. There is as much determination in 
them today as there was six months since. They have 
learned to act, not to talk about it; and when the time comes 
you will find them as ready and willing to do as ever." 

Before the end of November, some of the prisoners were 
exchanged and returned to the regiment, and some of the 
wounded had recovered. The Fifteenth, what was left of it, 
often received the kindly notice of General McClellan, and 
most of the boys manifested that respect and love for him, 
that prevailed in the old Army of the Potomac. After the 
battle of Antietam, he pointed out to President Lincoln the 
torn old flag of the Fifteenth, and again, shortly before he 
gave up his command, it received his marked attention. 
Commenting on the fact, one of the hoys remarked: "The 



FREDERICKSBURG. 589 

old flag does indeed look hard. It is not safe to unfurl it 
when the wind blows very strong." This flag at last became 
so completely worn out that it was laid aside and a new one, 
furnished by the state, took its place. 

The Thirty-sixth Regiment had some hard marches dur- 
ing the autumn and, once, while they were in camp at Water- 
loo, were limited for several days to rations of two ears of 
corn and a small piece of fresh meat per man. The surviv- 
ing members of the Thirty-sixth still call the place Hungry 
Hollow. November 13th, Corporal G.W. Perry of. Company 
G, who had been sick less than a week, died, and as his re- 
mains could not be sent home, he was buried at Warrenton. 

Burnside took command of the army November 5th. He 
advanced towards Fredericksburg, as soon as an agreement 
was reached between him and the authorities at Washington. 
Sumner's Grand Right Division was made up of the Second 
and Ninth Corps, and thus contained most of the Clinton 
men in Burnside's advancing columns. Here, were the 
remnants of the Fifteenth, Nineteenth, Twentieth, Twenty- 
first and Twenty-eighth. Here, was the Thirty-sixth, still 
unscathed by battle, but with one-half of its men detailed for 
special duty or on the sick list. Perhaps three-score Clinton 
men in all were on active duty. In Franklin's Grand Left 
Division was the Seventh Massachusetts, and in the Grand 
Center, commanded by Hooker, were the First, Ninth, 
Eleventh and Twenty-second. Of the fourteen Clinton 
soldiers originally in these regiments, very few were left in 
the ranks. 

General Sumner's Grand Right reached Falmouth oppo- 
site Fredericksburg on the 17th of November. He asked to 
be allowed to cross immediately at the fords or by some 
method to be devised by the New England ingenuity of his 
regiments. If he had been allowed to do this, the costly 
sacrifices of the following month might, perhaps, have been 
spared, as the rebels had few troops at this time at hand. 
But Burnside would not consent, and a fatal delay ensued. 



590 



FROM ANTIETAM TO GETTYSBURG. 



It was not until the nth of December, that preparations 
were made to cross. Howard's Division of the Second Corps, 
to which the Fifteenth, Nineteenth and Twentieth belonged, 
crossed first during the night. The rest of Sumner's Grand 
Right followed the next day, taking position in the city. 
Franklin's Grand Left also crossed, leaving Hooker's Center 
on the other bank. The attack on the 13th was begun by 
Franklin with the left and continued by Sumner with the 
right, but it so happened that Howard's Division was not 
sent forward until afternoon, and that, although the Fifteenth, 
which was supporting a battery, suffered some, no man of 
Company C was injured. The Ninth Corps, Sturgis' Divis- 
ion, containing the Twenty-first, did some good fighting, but 
no Clinton men were injured, if indeed any still remained 
on active duty at this time in the regiment, after the terrible 
service at Manassas, Chantilly and Antietam. Burns' Divis- 
ion of the Ninth Corps, containing the Thirty-sixth, was held 
in reserve and sustained little injury. All indeed of our 
Clinton men escaped unharmed from the terrible and useless 
slaughter of Fredericksburg, although they stood ready at 
any moment to enter the thick of the fight. 

From Antietam on through the winter the number of 
men on active duty in Company C, Fifteenth Regiment, was 
very small. In December, only twenty-eight were in the 
ranks, and thirty-one were in the hospital. Before the close 
of winter and spring, the number in the hospital decreased, 
as some returned to their regiments and others were dis- 
charged. The Thirty-sixth was severely afBicted by disease 
during the winter, and many died. Among them, was 
Lyman H. Hastings, who died at Falmouth, Virginia, January 
16, 1863. 

Thus, in the gloom arising from failure and the death of 
comrades, and in the suffering caused by wounds and disease, 
the Clinton boys in the Army of the Potomac passed the 
long winter. At home, some were mourning their dead, 
some were anxiously waiting to hear reports from those who 



EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION. 591 

were in the hospitals. All listened eagerly to the thrilling 
stories of those discharged, whose sufferings had rendered 
them unable to serve longer in the field. It was a period of 
deepest despondency and despair, but a ray of heavenly 
light broke through this darkness ; a definite treaty of 
alliance was made with the Almighty against the powers of 
evil. Though rivers of blood had flowed in atoning sacrifice, 
our nation had not yet been cleansed, but through the proc- 
lamation of emancipation, the accursed sin of our people was 
forever abjured. Henceforth our soldiers fought with a 
sterner purpose and a more consecrated valor, since they 
fought not for the Union alone, but for eternal justice. From 
every pulpit throughout the land, lips touched with coals 
from off the divine altar cried that the voice of patriotism 
was the voice of God, and our armies went forth to victory 
strong in the might of His unconquerable arm. 

After the withdrawal from Fredericksburg, the troops 
went into winter quarters on the Falmouth side of the river. 
The Second Corps took no part in the Mud Campaign of 
January 20-23. January 26th, it was called upon to mourn 
the resignation of its gallant old corps commander. General 
Sumner, who retired from active service on account of the 
infirmities of age. He had commanded the Second Corps 
since its organization, and during that time it never lost a 
gun or a standard, although it had suffered terribly on many 
a hard fought field. General Couch was his successor. 

On the same date, General Burnside was followed by 
General Hooker, and the Army of the Potomac was again 
reorganized. Early in February, the Twenty-first and 
Thirty-sixth were removed to other fields of service. The 
Thirty-fourth still remained about the defences of Washing- 
ton. The little remnant of Clinton men left in the Fifteenth 
was about the only representation that the town had in the 
Army of the Potomac, except a very few scattered about, 
one or two in a regiment here and there. It is doubtful if 



592 FROM ANTIETAM TO GETTYSBURG. 

there were ever thirty Clinton men at any one time in active 
service under Hooker or Meade during the following spring 
or summer. 

The Fifteenth was in the First Brigade of the Second 
Division of the Second Corps. General Alfred Sully com- 
manded the brigade and General John Gibbons the division. 
Colonel Ward returned and took the command of this regi- 
ment. This Second Division escaped the awful slaughter of 
Chancellorsville, May 1-4, as it was held in reserve as a 
support to the Sixth Corps. The First Division of the 
Second Corps, however, suffered, and it was one of the 
results of the disasters of the day that General Couch, feel- 
ing that he could not serve under such a leader as Hooker 
had proved himself to be, resigned the command of the 
Second Corps. Winfield S. Hancock was his successor. 

When the southern army, inspired with confidence by the 
successes of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, began its 
northward movement and Hooker's army swung around so 
as to protect the capitol, and finally to compel Lee to a 
decisive battle, our Clinton men, like the other soldiers, were 
obliged to make many forced marches. On June 26th, 
General Gibbons excused the Fifteenth and Nineteenth from 
all picket and outside duty for marching "in the best and 
most compact order." They saw, without regret, the im- 
petuous and unsuccessful Hooker succeeded by the quiet, 
scholarly Meade on June 28th. 

On July 1st, while Reynolds and Howard, with the First 
and Eleventh Corps, were fighting in the opening struggle 
of Gettysburg, the SecQnd Corps was at Taneytown. After 
Reynolds had fallen and Howard had been defeated, it was 
the inspiring presence of Hancock, the Second Corps com- 
mander, that restored the morale of the retreating troops 
and made such a show of resistence that the victorious 
rebels did not press their advantage. On the following day, 
the Second Corps occupied a position on the left centre, 
reaching the field at about seven o'clock. The mistake of 



GETTYSBURG. 



593 



Sickles, the commander of the Third Corps, in advancing 
his Hne too far in front, resulted in his defeat and, as he was 
driven back, the regiments which had been sent to patch up 
the gap between his position and that of the main line, 
received the shock of the attack upon the long-drawn front. 
The Fifteenth was one of these regiments, and it bore the 
shock most bravely, until the whole force was ordered back 
to the original line. It was in this struggle that Colonel 
Ward fell. 

On the third day of the battle, the Fifteenth remained 
without any important service until afternoon. During the 
grand artillery battle between the armies, the infantry, for 
an hour and a half, crouched behind the stone walls or lay 
upon the ground under the boiling sun, while all the air 
around was filled with bursting shells. There they were, 
with guns clutched in their hands, waiting for the terrible 
conflict which they knew was soon to come. 

The artillery fire slackens. Now, Longstreet's force, 
fourteen thousand strong, with Pickett's men in the lead, is 
seen emerging from the rebel line. Steadily the mighty 
billow of war rolls onward. Right against the Second Corps 
it comes. Webb, with his Pennsylvania regiments, yields at 
first to the overwhelming forces. The rebel line is over the 
stone wall, but other Union troops are gathering in front and 
pouring in from every side. Now is the supreme moment 
of the struggle, perhaps of the whole war. The Fifteenth, 
and its three companion regiments, have been standing to 
the left of Webb. The order comes to advance the colors. 
All move forward as if stirred by a single impulse upon the 
rebel flank. There is a moment of Titanic struggle. Now, 
the rebel column wavers, it is broken, it yields. The Second 
Corps gathers up the battle-flags in sheaves and the prisoners 
in thousands. Ball's Bluff and Antietam are avenged. The 
grand charge is over. The aggressive force of Lee's army 
is destroyed. The proud waves of the invasion are stayed 
forever. 



594 FROM ANTIETAM TO GETTYSBURG. 

This victory was not gained without terrible cost. The 
Fifteenth lost in killed, wounded and missing from July ist 
to July 4th, over fifty per cent, of all the men it took into 
the fight. The loss of Company C was greater proportion- 
ately than that of the regiment, for twenty-four men entered 
the battle, and at its close Sergeant William J. Coulter, then 
the ranking officer of the company, led only six men from 
the field. It is doubtful if there were more than a dozen 
Clinton men of the Fifteenth Regiment in the fight. Three 
of these were killed in action: J. P. Chenery, Alexander 
Lord, G. F. Osgood, and one, Lieutenant E. G. Buss died at 
home twenty days later from wounds received here. Four 
others were wounded, A. D. Wright, R. K. Cooper, H. B. 
Olcott and John Smith. 

Before the spring campaign had opened, out of those who 
were on the rolls September i, 1862, five Clinton men from 
the Fifteenth Regiment had been discharged to enter the 
regular army, one was serving in the New York Cavalry, and 
one in the New Jersey Cavalry, Twenty had been dis- 
charged for disability, and one had refused a commission 
after being wounded. Thus, twenty-seven Clinton men, in 
addition to the six who were killed or died from wounds 
received at Antietam, were dropped from the rolls of the 
regiment before the battle of Gettysburg, so that there were 
twenty-six only left in the regiment. If we take from these 
the four who fell at Gettysbury, it leaves only twenty-two 
at the close of the second year of service still on the rolls. 
Of these, many were in the hospitals and others were on 
detached service on the wagon trains and elsewhere. 

In all the other regiments in Virginia there may have 
been nine men in active service at Gettysburg and the same 
number in September. Adding to these the ten who had 
been transferred to the regular army or elsewhere, it gives a 
possible nineteen, besides the twenty-six in the Fifteenth, 
or a total of forty-five names on the rolls during the Gettys- 



MINE RUN. 595 

burg Campaign, although probabl}' less than half of these 
took part in the battle, and of forty-one whose names were 
on the rolls in September, 1863, in the Army of the Potomac. 
The Thirty-fourth, still engaged in the defence of Washing- 
ton, had ten Clinton men, which will increase our total to 
fifty-one. 

It will not be necessary to trace the campaign of ma- 
noeuvres that followed during the autumn and winter. No 
Clinton men suffered in battle, either from Lee's aggressive 
movement at Bristoe Station, or when Meade's advance was 
checked at Mine Run. At the former engagement, the 
Fifteenth took a most active part, and at the latter, the 
wise caution of Warren prevented an action which would 
have caused a terrible slaughter of the Second Corps with 
great doubt of final victory. It was at Mine Run that the 
men, anticipating that they should be called upon to make 
an attack, pinned papers to the inside of their coats with 
their names written upon them so that their dead bodies 
might be identified. 

March 4, 1864, one more Clinton recruit, James Clifford, 
was added to the rolls of the Fifteenth. Thus the total of 
all the men who belonged to the regiment at various times, 
was seventy-eight. Allowing for the number discharged for 
disability during the winter, there may have been a total of 
fourteen in the Fifteenth Regiment and seventeen in other 
organizations in the spring of 1864, before the army was 
joined by the Ninth Corps. 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 

IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY.— ENLISTMENTS AND 
FINANCES. 

Clinton had furnished four men for Butler's expedition 
to New Orleans. Two of these were mustered in the Twenty- 
sixth ; another was mustered into the Thirtieth, and the 
fourth was mustered into the Thirty-first. These men took 
part in the capture of New Orleans and the opening of the 
mouth of the Mississippi in the spring and summer of 1862. 
John Donovan died at Baton Rouge, La., October 12, 1863. 

We left the Twenty-first Regiment at Falmouth at the 
close of the Fredericksburg campaign. February 11, 1863, 
the regiment was at Fortress Monroe. March 26th, it started 
for Baltimore. March 31st, it was at Cincinnati. April, 
May and June were spent in camp at Mount Sterling, Ky. 
The Twenty-first remained behind when a portion of the 
Ninth Corps went to Vicksburg. In July, it was near Lex- 
ington, and in August, it went to Camp Nelson on the Ken- 
tucky River. During this time, the regiment did no fighting. 
As five men had been discharged, one transferred and one 
missing, only ten Clinton men were left in the regiment 
September i, 1863. 

The Thirty-sixth Regiment left the Army of the Potomac 
the 6th of February. It went to Newport News, where it 
stayed pleasantly encamped for some six weeks. On the 
23d of March, it started for Kentucky. It passed through 
Baltimore and Cincinnati and, March 2gth, arrived at Lex- 
ington. With frequent changes of camp and some long 



VICKSBURG. ■ 597 

marches the regiment continued in this portion of Kentucky 
for some two months. In April, Rev. C. M. Bowers of Clin- 
ton visited his fellow-townsmen, and on his return became a 
means of communication between the soldiers and their 
homes. On the ist of June, Colonel Bowman was assigned 
to the command of the brigade, which consisted of the Thirty- 
sixth Massachusetts, Forty-fifth Pennsylvania, Seventeenth 
and Twenty-seventh Michigan. The same day that Colonel 
Bowman received his command, the regiment marched to 
Jamestown, twenty miles away. On June 4th, they set out for 
Lebanon. They covered this distance of sixty miles, under 
a scorching sun in heavy marching order, in forty-eight con- 
secutive hours. Here, the men learned that they were to 
reenforce Grant at Vicksburg. June 9th, the regiment was 
at Cairo. After a week spent on the Mississippi, the reen- 
forcement reached its destination. This portion of the Ninth 
Army Corps, to which the Thirty-sixth Regiment now be- 
longed, was summoned from the north to the assistance of 
Grant, in order that it might help keep at bay the forces of 
Johnston, which menaced Grant's rear, while he was besieg- 
ing Pemberton with his thousands, inside the city. Thus, 
the Thirty-sixth Regiment took no part in the capture of the 
city except to help guard the rear of Grant's army, while he 
prosecuted the siege. 

The regiment took up its location about three miles from 
Milldale on the 20th of June. "The wild magnolia trees, now 
in full bloom, filled the air with their fragrance. From many 
of the trees, hung the Spanish moss which was gathered in 
large quantities and used for beds." Yet, the men did not 
enjoy this country, for one of them says: " In many places, 
the soil was so dry and parched with the heat that it seemed 
to crack open like a blistered skin, beneath the rays of the 
tropical sun. The wind blew hot from every point of the 
compass, bringing clouds of dust along with it. Gnats and 
flies made night hideous and drove sleep from the weary. 
Venomous snakes and other reptiles infested the woods and 



5g8 IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 

the thickets. Lizards soon became no novelty and even the 
resort of keeping them out of one's boots by wearing these 
day and night, would not prevent their working down one's 
back occasionally, causing a sensation like an animated 
icicle." 

The troops were kept as quiet as possible on account of 
the intense heat, but morning and evening they worked on 
rifle pits as a preparation against the attack of Johnston. 
The health of the men gave way. A case of small-pox in the 
regiment was a source of great alarm. As Johnston made 
no attack, the Ninth Corps had no fighting to do, so they 
waited until the starving rebels within the doomed city 
should surrender to the forces of Grant which drew closer 
and closer day by day. The roaring of siege guns made the 
air heavy with sound day and night, and a pall of thick 
smoke hung over the city. 

At length, the rebels could hold out no longer. On July 
3 and 4, 1864, thirty-one thousand six hundred men were sur- 
rendered, besides immense stores of munitions. Thus, while 
Lee was retreating from Gettysburg, Pemberton was surren- 
dering Vicksburg and with it the control of the Mississippi. 
Clinton men participated in each of these glorious victories; 
in one, they fought heroically, in the other, they waited, 
keeping guard no less heroically in the midst of disease and 
death, and thus made the success of others possible. 

The city was no sooner taken than Sherman received 
orders to take the Fifteenth, Ninth, Thirteenth and part of 
the Sixteenth Corps and pursue Johnston. "The rebels as 
they retreated poisoned the wells or killed animals in the 
ponds or streams, their putrid carcasses rendering the water 
unfit for use." Unripe corn furnished the only rations the 
men could get, as the rapid- march left the supply trains far 
in the rear. As there were no tents the men slept under the 
open sky, often in the midst of terrible storms. Thus, day 
after day they marched while men were constantly dropping 
from the ranks. 



RETURN TO KENTUCKY. 



599 



Johnston's troops did not pause until Jackson was 
reached, July loth. Here, he resisted for six days, but on 
the 17th, the Union troops entered the city. In a reconnois- 
sance during the investment. Corporal James Smith was 
wounded. The long marches and extreme heat told terribly 
on the health of the men. The hospitals were crowded, 
and even those who still remained on active duty were far 
from well. Though the ravages of small-pox were stayed, 
chills and fever, and a disease somewhat like scurvy, pre- 
vailed. 

At this time, Colonel Bowman resigned his commission 
and received his discharge. His service from this time on 
was in the Quartermaster's Department of the United States 
Volunteer Militia. 

Soon, the glad orders came for the Ninth Corps to pro- 
ceed to the north. The regiment reached Cairo, August 
loth, just two months after it left there, and August 12th, it 
was in Kentucky once more. Although the conditions in 
which the regiment was now placed were healthy in their 
character, the men were still sent to the hospital in increas- 
ing numbers as an after effect of the Mississippi Campaign. 
There were, however, no deaths among the Clinton boys at 
this time, and not even one was discharged for disability 
after leaving Virginia before September ist, and there were 
at this time some twenty-four names on the rolls. 

The Thirty-sixth was at Crab Orchard, Kentucky, from 
August 29th, 1863, to September loth, 1863, and there it set 
out, with the rest of the Ninth Corps, including the Twenty- 
first Massachusetts, for East Tennessee. One hundred and 
fifty men of the regiment were left behind, who were in too 
poor health to take the march. Among these, was Henry 
McGrath, who died here of disease on October loth. 
September 20th, the line of march carried the Thirty-sixth 
through the grand scenery of Cumberland Gap. On the 
26th, the troops arrived at Knoxville. From here, several 
expeditions were made into the surrounding country during 



6oo IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 

the next two months. October loth, there was a little brush 
at Blue Springs, the Thirty-sixth being ordered to clear 
some of the woods of rebels. This was successfully done 
under severe fire. Lieutenant Henry S. Robinson was 
wounded in this affair. 

While the regiment was at Lenoir Station, twenty-three 
miles from Knoxville, it was suddenly discovered that Long- 
street was marching against Burnside with a greatly superior 
force. Grant directed Burnside to hold out against Long- 
street, if possible, until he had defeated Bragg. Burnside, 
therefore, retired as slowly as he could to Knoxville. When 
he reached there he was obliged to endure a desperate siege, 
which was finally relieved by the defeat of Bragg. The 
Twenty-first participated in a gallant and successful charge 
on the enemy on the 24th of November, but no Clinton men 
suffered. The winter was spent in watching Longstreet and 
securing East Tennessee. 

On the 15th of December, two Clinton men, Frederick E. 
Flagg and Charles H. Howe, were taken prisoners in a slight 
skirmish with the enemy. Neither of them ever returned 
for Flagg died at Belle Island, Richmond, in March, 1864, 
and Howe, after having suffered all the horrors of Anderson- 
ville, Georgia, died there August 27, 1864. We shrink from 
telling of the sufferings these men and many others from 
Clinton endured in rebel prison pens : the exposure without 
protection to drenching rains and burning suns; the fiendish 
guards, eagerly watching for the first victim who might 
approach the death line; the garments, tattered, sometimes 
lost or wholly discarded; the emaciated bodies, covered with 
filth and vermin, because the men were too weak to care for 
themselves; the foul water, each draught of which meant 
hastened death; the vile food, rotten and full of worms; the 
men losing all human semblance and becoming drivelling 
idiots or ravenous wild beasts, in the fierceness of their 
hunger tearing the food from the lips of starving comrades, 
until at last death came as a welcome relief. 



RE-ENLISTMENTS. 6oi 

In March, the Thirty-sixth joyfull}- received orders to 
proceed to Annapolis, Maryland. There ma}^ have been 
eighteen Clinton men in the regiment when it reached 
Annapolis, April 6, 1864. In December, the men of the 
Twenty-first Regiment were called upon to re-enlist. The 
circumstances under which this was done can be seen from 
this extract from Colonel Hawke's diary: "Saturday, Decem- 
ber 26 — Rainy; men re-enlisting fast; no bread; had two ears 
of corn issued to each man as day's rations. * * * Sunday, 
December 27th — Two ears of corn issued as rations to each 
man today. Notice was forwarded from regimental head- 
quarters that two-thirds of the Twenty-first had re-enlisted 
for three years more, the first regiment in the Ninth Corps 
that has done so." Among those who re-enlisted were eight 
Clinton men: Patrick Burke, William Cohen, John Delaney, 
Patrick J. Dickson, Calvin Pinder, John Quinn, Charles R. 
Renner, Luther E. Stewart. The other four Clinton men 
who remained were temporarily transferred to the Thirty- 
fifth Massachusetts. Those who had re-enlisted were granted 
a veteran re-enlistment furlough of thirty days. They 
started for home on the 20th of January. On February ist, 
a grand reception was tendered to them in Worcester. In 
an eloquent address on this occasion, Hon. A. H. Bullock 
said: "Follow these men from their camp in Worcester to 
Annapolis, to North Carolina, back to Virginia, to Maryland, 
to Tennessee, through four states in rebellion, everywhere 
patient, enduring, triumphant, never despairing of their 
country, never dishonoring their state, never losing their 
flag!" 

While the Thirty-sixth was in Mississippi, the Fifty-third, 
with its thirt}--one Clinton men, was also in the Mississippi 
Valley. All but three of the^se men belonged in Company 
I. The other members of the company were mostly from 
Lancaster and Ashburnham. George A. Barrett of Ash- 
burnham was the first captain of the company. 

40 



6o2 IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 

No recruits who had gone out from Clinton since the 
Light Guard departed, were the object of more general 
interest than these nine months' men. At the time of his 
enlistment, Lieutenant Vose was the Master of Trinity 
Lodge, which presented him with a sword, sash and belt. In 
making the presentation speech, Dr. G. W. Burdett said 
among other things: "We have but recently called you to 
be master of our lodge ; you were selected for the highest 
of^ce in this body because we believed you had wisdom to 
govern and control. But, sir, you have heard another call, 
more holy, more sacred, than ours. Your noble and gen- 
erous heart most promptly responded to the demand of your 
country. As we have already given four of our worthy 
brothers for the defence of our insulted and bleeding 
country, who have honored well their stations and in return 
have been honored by a grateful nation, so, too, now, do we 
cheerfully give another, in full confidence that whatever may 
be assigned you, will be well done." 

Colonel John W. Kimball took command of the Fifty- 
third November 29th, to the great satisfaction of all its 
members. Captain Barrett of Company I was made lieu- 
tenant-colonel, and James A. Pratt, major. Edward R. 
Washburn of Lancaster, was promoted to the command of 
Company L Josiah H. Vose was made first-lieutenant, and 
William T. Freeman, second-lieutenant. The commissions 
were given November 8th, but the muster did not occur 
until December. 

The regiment was ordered to report to General Banks in 
New York, so that it might be in readiness to embark on the 
expedition to the Mississippi for which it was destined. It 
reached New York, November 30, 1862, and was sent to 
Camp Banks on Long Island. Here, the men had no other 
shelter than was given by their tents, and suffered extremely 
from the cold. They were soon transferred to Franklin 
Street Barracks in New York, but here the rations and accom- 
modations were so poor, that a riot arose. The conduct of 



THE VOYAGE. 603 

Lieutenant Vose in bearing all these discomforts with his 
men, while most of the ofificers of other companies lived in 
luxury, letting their men suffer alone, greatly endeared him 
to the soldiers in his charge. 

It was not until the 17th of January, that the regiment 
left New York. The voyage in the steamer Continental was 
a stormy one, and it was twelve days before New Orleans 
was reached. The following notes of the voyage were made 
by Robert Orr, one of our Clinton men: "Just one week 
from the time of leaving New York, the men were awakened 
in the early morning by the stopping of the engine, and by 
looking through the small ' dead lights,' they saw, as if in a 
frame, a beautiful tropical picture, such as a Northener may 
dream of but seldom see. There was a quick rush for the 
deck, and it seemed as if heaven must have opened to their 
view. Palm trees, orange and lemon trees in full fruit, with 
bananas, and all the lush foliage of the tropics met their 
gaze, and filled them with surprise and delight. * * * An 
early start was effected on the morning following ; and 
scarcely had the low-lying land of Key West dropped into 
the ocean, before a tropical thunder storm passed over us. 
This had scarcely cleared, when directly dead ahead was seen 
coming toward the steamer one of those sudden-rising storms 
peculiar to the Gulf of Mexico. A solid wall of water was 
rolling and tumbling towards us, seemingly threatening to 
swallow everything in its path. A rush was made by the 
crew to house the sails, which had been spread to aid the 
steam in its work, but not quite quick enough to save two of 
the spars, which snapped like pipe-stems as the storm struck. 
* * * But all things must come to an end, and the storm 
finally quieted; the staunch vessel proceeded on her way, 
and soon the men knew they were in the Mississippi River. 
The ship soon passed Forts St. Phillip and Jackson, the 
scene of Farragut's famous engagement, and in due time cast 
anchor in midstream opposite New Orleans." 

The regiment encamped at Carrollton, some six miles 



6o4 IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 

from the city. It was assigned to the Third Brigade, Third 
Division. The brigade was in command of Colonel Gooding, 
the division of General Emory. March 6th, the regiment 
embarked on the steamer, Crescent, for Baton Rouge. It 
went into camp four miles above the city in a beautiful mag- 
nolia grove. On the I2th, there was a reconnoitering expe- 
dition, and the pickets of the enemy were driven in. The 
next day, the regiment set out for Port Hudson to distract 
the attention of the rebels, while Commodore Farragut 
passed the batteries with his gunboats. On the night of the 
14th, the regiment encamped three miles from Port Hudson 
and the next day, since everything had been accomplished 
for which the expedition had been made, they returned 
toward Baton Rouge. 

On the 1st of April, the regiment went down by boat to 
Algiers, opposite New Orleans. On the gth, it took the cars 
for Brashear City, where it started with other troops on an 
expedition into the Teche country for the purpose of clear- 
ing out any rebels who might be there. Shooting at alliga- 
tors from the cars furnished great amusement to the soldiers 
as they rode through the cypress swamps. On the 12th, the 
regiment met and pushed back the rebel skirmishing line, 
and approached the main works, which were some eight 
miles from Pattersonville. Then, came an artillery engage- 
ment with the regiment in support, lasting until night. The 
notes of Robert Orr give the following account of the part 
taken by the Fifty-third in the battle of Bisland or Irish 
Bend, which followed during the next two days: "Soon, the 
right wing of the Fifty-third was directed to advance, while 
the remaining companies were placed in support of a battery 
which had been moved from the opposite side of the Teche, 
and was now engaged in shelling the enemy's works, right 
over the heads of the assaulting column. Being soon re- 
lieved from this position, the left wing of the regiment ad- 
vanced, and were soon in the thick of the fracas. A steady, 
rapid fire was being delivered from both sides, and its effect 



PORT HUDSON. 605 

was seen as men slightly wounded sought the rear, and those 
more severely hurt were passed in the advance. The drift- 
ing of the men to the rear, who had been earliest in the fight, 
and whose ammunition had become exhausted, soon left the 
Fifty-third at the front; and as night had begun to fall, the 
firing gradually ceased. But two ditches intervened between 
them and the works of the enemy. They were ordered to 
fall back to the last one occupied, and established there the 
picket-line. The enemy were heard quietly taking posses- 
sion of the one nearest their works. The men were utterly 
exhausted from lack of sleep and the labor and nervous strain 
of the day, and it required the constant efforts of the officers 
to keep them awake, although the enemy was so near." 
Charles H. Thurman of Clinton was killed in the battle. 

The pursuit of the retreating rebels took the army to 
Opelousas, where it stayed for two weeks. May 5th, the 
troops started tor Alexandria, one hundred miles away. 
This march took only four days. Then, the regiment pro- 
ceeded rapidly back toward Port Hudson, and rejoined the 
brigade May 23d. On May 27th, the regiment took part in 
the attack made on Port Hudson. At first, it acted as a sup- 
port to the Thirty-eighth Massachusetts, but later, it was 
moved forward to the skirmishing line within two hundred 
feet of the rebel intrenchment. Here, under the brow of a 
hill, it was under fire from sharpshooters for twenty-four 
hours. June 5th, the regiment went some thirty miles to 
Clinton, Louisiana, to scatter a band of rebel cavalry which 
was troubling communications. This was accomplished 
without other casualties than came from the intense heat 
and the fatiguing march. 

June 14th, was the most memorable day in the history of 
the regiment, for on this day it made a most heroic and fatal 
charge on the fortifications of the enemy. The official report 
of Colonel Kimball thus describes the assault : "At about fif- 
teen minutes past four o'clock orders came to advance in 
quick time upon the enemy's works, supporting the Thirty- 



6o6 IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY, 

eighth, who were following a line of skirmishers. They 
pressed steadily forward, keeping as good a line as the nature 
of the ground, ravines and fallen trees would admit, until the 
center had reached to within twenty yards of the works, 
when we came upon the first line of skirmishers, who had 
been repulsed and were holding this position. At this junc- 
ture, General Paine came up, and after examination of the 
line, gave the order 'to charge forward and into the works.' 
I immediately repeated the order to my regiment, which 
sprang forward with an alacrity and determination worthy of 
veterans, some of the men reaching the works and falling at 
the ditch, while others entered and were captured. At this 
time, General Paine fell severely wounded, as did many of 
my best offlcers. The fire of the enemy was now so terrible 
that it was impossible to advance the men under it, and we 
maintained our position close up to the works during the day, 
keeping up a fire upon the enemy, receiving no orders until 
about ten o'clock in the afternoon, when I was ordered to 
withdraw and return to my position of the morning, being 
the last regiment to leave the field. I was able to get off all 
my wounded and most of the dead. The sufferings of the 
men through this day were severe in the extreme, lying in 
the hot sun, with no shelter; out of water, and no chance of 
obtaining a supply, many of them lying in a position where 
any attempt on their part to move would subject them to the 
well-directed fire of the enemy's sharpshooters, rendering 
their condition very critical. They uttered no word of com- 
plaint, but all — the wounded and well — bore their trials with 
the fortitude of martyrs." 

In this battle, Thomas Roberts fell, and Lieutenant Josiah 
H. Vose, Corporal Charles W. Moore, Thomas W. Belcher, 
Patrick Coyle, Charles Hoffman, Robert Orr, Patrick Owens 
and Thomas W. Reid were wounded. Lieutenant J. H. Vose 
died from the effect of his wound, June 17th. We have 
seen him as the superintendent of the Clinton Company, as 
a member of the school committee and a leader in many 



THIRD CAVALRY. 607 

departments of local affairs. He was so well known and so 
universally loved, that the intelligence of his death filled the 
town with gloom. His funeral service marks the moment 
of deepest solemnity in Clinton throughout the war. 

After the supreme effort of June 14th, the regiment rested 
until June 19th. Then, it went to the front again in support 
of a battery, where it remained until the surrender of the 
city, July gth. On July nth, the regiment went toward 
Baton Rouge. On the 15th, it was at Donaldsonville. 
August 2d, it returned to Baton Rouge. August 12th, it 
started for home by way of Cairo, Illinois. It reached Fitch- 
burg, August 24th, and the twenty-three Clinton men, who 
remained in the ranks, were mustered out September 2d at 
Camp Stevens in Groton. In order that we may appreciate 
the work of these men we must remember not only the num- 
ber of killed and wounded, but also the amount of disease 
which prevailed among them. Perhaps, the men of this regi- 
ment brought home the seeds of ill-health implanted in their 
systems to as great an extent as the men of most three years' 
regiments. Some have died, and many have suffered from 
that time to this from diseases then incurred. 

No other Clinton men fought in any considerable num- 
bers in the Valley of the Mississippi during the war, except 
those of the Third Massachusetts Cavalry and one man in 
the Second Light Battery, who were with Banks in the Red 
River Expedition of 1864. There were eleven Clinton men 
in the Third Cavalry. On the 20th of March, we find these 
eleven men near Alexandria on the Red River. From this 
time, until the 20th of May, they were engaged in almost 
constant skirmishing with the enemy. The fighting at Mans- 
field and Pleasant Hill, sometimes known as "Sabine Cross 
Roads," on April 8th and 9th, was their most important en- 
gagement. Here, the regiment lost seventy-three men, 
although we have no record of casualties in the case of any 
Clinton man of this regiment. Thomas Caulfield, originally 
of the Fifteenth, but since January 16, 1864, of the Massa- 



6o8 ENLISTMENTS AND FINANCES. 

chusetts Second Light Battery, was wounded here and made 
a prisoner. During the latter part of May and the whole of 
June, the Third Cavalry rested from the disastrous campaign 
at Morganza Bend on the Mississippi. Here, on the 19th of 
June, Joseph Hall died. On June 25th, the regiment was 
dismounted and armed as infantry. On July 15, 1864, it set 
out for Fortress Monroe. 

After the enlistment of the nine months' men in the sum- 
mer and early fall of 1862, there was no recruiting done in 
Clinton for a long time. The only enlistment known to have 
been made before the following summer was that of John W. 
Freeman, who entered service February 27, 1863, as a seaman 
on the ship, Mercidita. He was the only Clinton man in the 
navy of whom any casualties are recorded. He was wounded 
in the leg off Wilmington, N. C, November 7, 1863, and was 
discharged February i, 1864. 

The ill-success of our arms in the Fredericksburg and 
Chancellorsville campaigns offered little encouragement for 
recruiting in a community, where all the most patriotic 
young men who were able to go, were already in the field. 
Moreover, the fear of a draft, which had been to some a 
strong inducement to help on recruiting from the town as a 
whole, now lost its effective force in this direction, since it 
had been decided that the town was responsible for a certain 
number of men on each new call for troops, notwithstanding 
it had furnished an excess over the demand in the calls taken 
as a whole. There was much ill-feeling over this matter, as 
it had always been supposed by the town authorities on the 
assurance of the adjutant-general of the state, that full credit 
would be received for all men furnished by Clinton in excess 
of her quota, as a satisfaction of future demands, made in 
advance. Thus, notwithstanding its surplus, this town was 
subject to the draft of July, 1863, as well as the other towns 
of the state that had no surplus. 

Our quota was eighty-seven, and this number of men 



THE DRAFT. 609 

were drawn and went to Greenfield for examination. J. D. 
Hayes acted as marshal. When they appeared before the 
United States Commissioners, eighteen were accepted and 
sixty-nine were rejected from various causes, such as disa- 
bility, being aliens, and possibly under the plea of being the 
only sons of widows or of infirm and aged parents. 

None of the eighteen accepted* served personally, but 
each paid a commutation fee of three hundred dollars. 
Some of these were willing, since they could not go them- 
selves, to send others to take their places, while others paid 
their money in the vain hope that it would be returned when 
the proper credit had been given to the town for its volun- 
teers. After repeated attempts to have our state authorities 
credit our volunteers as they should, Elisha Brimhall, one of 
our selectmen, and A. L. Fuller, as representatives of the 
town, went to Washington and laid the matter before Presi- 
dent Lincoln in person. From this time on, although other 
towns were subject to the draft, Clinton was exempt. 

The close of 1863 and the beginning of 1864 proved a 
third period of numerous enlistments, about seventy recruits 
being added to the credit of the town at this time through 
veteran re-enlistment and fresh volunteering. Most of these, 
who enlisted from Clinton, entered the artillery or cavalry. 
Of those who entered the infantry, six went into the Thirty- 
fourth* in December, 1863, and January, 1864, and one to the 
Fifteenth*, in March, 1864. Between the summer of 1863 
and that of 1864, the Second Heavy Artillery received 
twelve men from Clinton.* A large proportion of these had 
only just reached the age of admission to the army. The 
four from Clinton, who enlisted in the Third Heavy Ar- 
tillery, were earlier in the field than most of those of the 
Second, for they were mustered in August and September of 
1863.* The Third Regiment of Cavalry was mustered 
January 5, 1864, and contained eleven Clinton men.* The 
Fourth Regiment of Cavalry, containing thirteen Clinton 

* See Individual Record. 



6iO ENLISTMENTS AND FINANCES. 

men, was mustered January 6, 1864.* In the Fifth Cavalry 
we find one Clinton man. 

This gives us a total of fifty-one new enlistments to add 
to the two hundred and sixteen already recorded. If we add 
to these the thirty-two re-enlistments from the field, most of 
which took place about the beginning of 1864, and the 
eighteen who paid commutation fees, we have three hundred 
and seventeen, or, with the thirty-five nine months' men and 
one three months' man, three hundred and fifty-three. In 
the summer of 1864, nine men enlisted for one hundred days 
in the Sixtieth Regiment.* These men went to Washington, 
and afterwards to Indianapolis, where they did good service 
in warding off the danger apprehended from the secret dis- 
loyal organizations, which had their headquarters in this city. 
They also helped in guarding rebel prisoners. Here Ezra K. 
Bartlett died October 10, 1864. One enlisted in the Forty- 
second, also a hundred days' regiment; another in the Sixty- 
first, a one year's regiment, and one in the regular army, 
Engineer Corps. Massachusetts received credit for a cer- 
tain number of men who enlisted in the navy. These were 
divided between the towns. Clinton received twenty-two 
men as its proportion. These men never lived here or had 
any other connection with our town than comes from this 
credit, yet Clinton would be held responsible for their sup- 
port if they became paupers and had secured no residence 
elsewhere since the war. 

In the report of the adjutant-general, Clinton received 
credit for furnishing four hundred and nineteen men for the 
war, a surplus of forty-eight over all demands. A study of 
the Individual Record will show that this number is approx- 
imately accounted for, if we include those who served for 
the shortest time, allowing for all re-enlistments, together 
with those who were credited from commutation, and from 
bounties paid claimed by the town, also those who had their 

*See Individual Record. 



EXPENSES OF THE WAR. 6ll 

homes here and enlisted elsewhere, and substitutes sent by 
our citizens. The adjutant-general states that twenty-one of 
the four hundred and nineteen were commissioned officers. 
This is somewhat in excess of the average proportion of 
ofificers to enlisted men. 

Of this number enlisted, seventy died during the contest. 
Of this seventy, about half were killed in battles or died 
from the effects of wounds ; the latter number is so un- 
certain that it is left indefinite. Eight died in rebel prisons. 
The others, for the most part, died from diseases caused by 
the service. Of the other three hundred and seventeen, for 
we must allow thirty-two for re-enlistments, over half were 
discharged for disability and fully three-fourths received 
permanent injuries from the service, either as the result of 
wounds or of chronic diseases incurred. 

The adjutant-general, summarizing expenses, states that 
fourteen thousand forty-three dollars and thirteen cents were 
appropriated and expended by the town in addition to state 
aid. Private subscriptions are reported to have amounted to 
nine thousand dollars more, making a total expenditure of 
twenty-three thousand forty-three dollars and thirteen cents. 
The amount of state aid paid by the town, and afterwards 
refunded by the commonwealth, was thirty-six thousand one 
hundred and seventy-one dollars and twenty-eight cents. It 
is not to be supposed that the pecuniary cost of the war to 
the people of the town can be estimated by the amount of 
expenditures stated. We must also take into account the 
loss of work by the citizens and the increased price of living. 
Besides all this, we are still paying, as we have been for 
thirty-five years, through indirect taxation, the national debt 
and interest thereon incurred by the war and the pensions 
bestowed upon those who participated therein. The indirect 
tax has already amounted for the people of the town to 
many times the sum directly appropriated by the town in its 
corporate capacity during the time the war was going on. 
In order that we may appreciate the sacrifices of those 



6l2 ENLISTMENTS AND FINANCES. 

who remained at home, we must realize that the expenses 
were paid and obligations undertaken when there was the 
greatest depression of business. In the month of August, 
1862, the Courant says: "Not a man, woman or child in 
Clinton need be told that times are hard. They all know it; 
they all understand it. The fact haunts us in our dreams 
and is ever present by day. * * * Cotton manufacturers and 
employers bewail the severity of the times as resulting from 
the almost fabulous prices at which cotton as a raw material 
is quoted." 

Merchants were often obliged to close up business on 
account of the large amount of bills that could not be 
collected from honest but impoverished debtors. The 
average cost of groceries and articles of dress had increased 
threefold, while the incomes of the majority of our people 
had been decreased. From the fact that the times were 
harder in Clinton than elsewhere, our population decreased 
so that there was a falling off of eleven per cent, in the num- 
ber of children between five and fifteen years old in the two 
years preceding February, 1864. 

The stopping of the publishing of the Clinton Courant 
in December, 1862, shows the hardness of the times, since the 
community could no longer support a local paper. Yet 
there were already signs that this depression was being 
relieved. Although the prices of raw materials were still at 
their highest, and manufacturers feared to purchase lest the 
price should grow less before the goods were off their hands, 
yet the needs of the country at large became so imperative, 
that orders kept ahead of work, and thus the risk was 
removed. Our Clinton corporations did not gain that ad- 
vantage from rise of prices that made more venturesome 
business concerns in other places suddenly wealthy. 

The work of the Clinton Soldiers' Aid Society was 
continued throughout the war, and its rooms were opened 
every week day. There was an average attendance of about 
ten each day from the date of opening in August, 1862, to the 



CLINTON SOLDIERS' AID SOCIETY. 613 

close of the war. Whenever any more important engage- 
ment had occurred, or for any reason the needs of the 
soldiers in the field or hospitals became more urgent, the 
numbers were greatly increased, and whenever there was less 
of need the attendance dropped off. A great variety of 
articles was made by the members of the society, either at 
their rooms or at home. The children, too, were often called 
upon to pick lint or make patchwork. All worked zealously, 
and there were none who were so devoid of patriotism or of 
pity for the suffering that they refused to do their part. 

When a box was to be sent, everybody contributed, and a 
most miscellaneous lot of articles were gathered. Here is a 
random list taken from the society accounts: Magazines and 
newspapers, delaine for quilt, two pieces calico for dressing- 
gowns, four jars pickles, seven bags dried apples, table linen, 
lint, two pairs socks, seven shirts, four sheets, six shirts, two 
shirts, two bottles wine, one bag hops, two cans jelly, four 
pounds cocoa, two pounds maizena, two pounds rice, one 
pound maizena, three bottles wine, three pillows, three 
slings for the arm, one pair drawers, one pair socks, five 
quilts. One box that was sent during Grant's advance on 
Richmond was so heavy that it could scarcely he loaded 
upon the wagon. 

In the latter part of the war, the boxes were sent through 
the Sanitary Commission, and extracts from some of the 
letters received from its officers may best reveal the good 
accomplished by the society: 

"I have much pleasure in acknowledging the receipt of 
another box from the Clinton Soldiers' Aid Society. The 
delay that you speak of in filling it is certainly more than 
compensated for by the excellence as well as the quantity 
of the contributions. The ladies who opened the box were 
loud in their praise of its contents. They seemed to think 
they never ha.d seen so many beautifully knit socks before." 

"Please accept for yourself and our friends in Clinton our 
hearty thanks for your acceptable donations of wines and 



6l4 ENLISTMENTS AND FINANCES. 

jellies ; how grateful they will be to some poor sufferers only 
those can tell who have watched beside a fevered patient 
and seen the eager look after the cooling draught, or seen 
the sinking, fainting form revived by a spoonful of wine 
judiciously administered; and how gladly the sanitary agents 
take places of mother and sister, and how well they fill those 
places by their acts of tender kindness to the sick and 
wounded, many a poor fellow will testify, and many another 
cannot in this world tell of the pillow smoothed or the ach- 
ing pains made more easy while his soul was lifted above 
the worries of this world to seek its home above, and the 
way of the dark valley made brighter by the words of cheer 
uttered by these same agents. But I meant to write a note 
of thanks to our friends, and so I do thank you all most 
heartily for helping us with our blessed work and giving us 
the stores to distribute where most needed." 

"Please tender to 'Young Ladies of Clinton' our warm 
thanks for the beautiful quilt sent through us to the soldiers. 
It will be forwarded to some permanent hospital without 
doubt, and serve as a comfort and entertainment to our brave 
soldiers for a long time." 

"We have received the box promised in your letter of 
the 7th, and our only smile was of pleasure in receiving a 
'good box.' We have known Clinton and its work so long 
that we now depend upon it and rejoice." 

It was not until July 5, 1865, that the society closed its 
rooms. The funds on hand were kept to be used for the 
good of returned soldiers or their families, while the various 
articles belonging to the rooms were kept by the members 
of the society to remind them of the days when they, as well 
as the men, worked for their country. 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 
UNDER GRANT IN VIRGINIA. 

Now, we come to the closing scenes of the war, the stern 
death grapple with the Confederacy, nerved by the energy 
of despair. The Federal troops for the first time acted as a 
unit, and were under the control of the iron-willed Grant. 
Most of our Clinton men were in Virginia. As the Ninth 
Corps was reorganized, the Twenty-first Regiment was 
assigned to the Second Brigade of the First Division, while 
the Thirty-sixth was assigned to the First Brigade, Second 
Division. General Burnside was again in command. There 
was a possible total of thirty Clinton men in the corps as a 
whole. It will be remembered that in the Second and other 
corps of Meade's army, there were thirty-one more men en- 
rolled, so that there may have been a possible total of sixty- 
one Clinton men in this army as a whole. Meanwhile, there 
were two subordinate armies, one in the valley of the 
Shenandoah and another in the valley of the James. These 
were expected to cooperate with the main body and separate 
the rebel forces. 

In the former force, was the Thirty-fourth Regiment with 
its fifteen Clinton men ; in the latter, the Twenty-fifth, with 
twenty-five Clinton men, and the Twenty-seventh, with two. 
Several Clinton men of the Fourth Cavalry were also with 
the Army of the James, giving a total of over thirty Clinton 
men in this force. Thus, in all the armies in Virginia, there 
was a possible total of one hundred and ten Clinton men. 
In August of this year, the Third Cavalry, with ten Clinton 



6i6 UNDER GRANT IN VIRGINIA. 

men, joined Sheridan, bringing up the possible total to about 
one hundred and twenty who may have served in Virginia in 
1864 and 1865. Probably much less than a hundred of these 
men saw any active service in the field during this time. 

On the 4th of May, the grand advance movement began. 
Grant crossed the Rapidan without opposition, but on the 
next day he met the forces of Lee in the Wilderness, and 
trusting to his preponderance of numbers, engaged in a blind 
struggle in the tangled forests. In this fearful combat, on a 
ground where the undergrowth was so thick that it was 
afterwards impossible to find the bodies of the dead, Han- 
cock's Second Corps took the most prominent part. It 
advanced well into the lines of the enemy, but as over- 
whelming forces were massed against it by the approach of 
Longstreet, it was obliged to withdraw. The Fifteenth 
Regiment lost about one-half the men on active duty. 
Archibald D. Wright was here taken prisoner on the 6th of 
May. The last morning report of Company C was made 
May 3d, and then there were only twenty men in actual 
service. How many of these came from Clinton it is im- 
possible to say. 

Although the Ninth Corps did not enter the battle of the 
Wilderness until it was nearly closed, yet it suffered severely. 
Leisure's Brigade, in which were the Twenty-first Massa- 
chusetts and the One-hundredth Pennsylvania, was called 
upon to sweep the front of Hancock's line after he had 
withdrawn to his original position. This it did in a most 
gallant manner, and later still, acting with the Second Corps, 
it was called upon to help attack and repulse the enemy. 
Patrick Burke was killed, and William Cohen was wounded 
in this engagement. In the Thirty-sixth Regiment, the 
skirmish line was led by Captain Bailey of Company G. 
When the Ninth Corps advanced against the rebels, it came 
in contact with its old antagonists of Longstreet's com- 
mand. "The order, 'Forward, double quick,' was shouted, 
and with loud and ringing cheers our lines advanced. The 



SPOTTSYLVANIA. 617 

enemy poured upon it terrific volleys, * * * but the advance 
was not checked. The left of our regiment first struck the 
rebel line and received the severest fire, but pressed on 
through it, and the Thirty-sixth (Massachusetts) and the 
Forty-fifth (Pennsylvania) broke the line, went over the 
breastworks with a rush and drove out the enemy in our 
front." The advantage was only temporary, for when night 
fell, Burnside, with all the Ninth Corps, occupied the same 
ground as when the fight began. The only loss among the 
Clinton men was that of Sergeant Daniel Wright, wounded 
and a prisoner. Lieutenant A. S. Davidson and Michael 
Martin were slightly wounded, but did not leave the field. 

Grant, finding that his "hammering" process was a fail- 
ure, resorted once more to manoeuvre, and, avoiding the rebel 
lines, advanced toward Richmond. He found Lee again 
across his path at Spottsylvania Court House. On the loth 
of May, the "hammering" began again. Grant, determined 
"to fight it out on this line if it took all summer," used the 
corps of Meade's army as so many huge human projectiles 
and hurled them one after another at the impregnable forti- 
fications of the rebels. It was here that the Second Corps 
took and held the famous "Death Angle," where there was 
a struggle for hours hand to hand with the enemy. The 
Ninth Corps, too, participated in the battle. A single scene 
from the record of the Thirty-sixth will be better than any at- 
tempt to chronicle the complex movements. The enemy 
are upon the flank of the regiment. " It was the most awful 
moment of our history. * * * Lying upon the ground, load- 
ing and firing rapidly, pouring upon the enemy a low fire 
which was most effective and deadly, they maintained the 
unequal contest until the order came * * * to charge. Then, 
rising to their feet in the midst of the awful fire, * * * the 
regiment was rushing toward the enemy when loud cheers 
were heard upon our left, and in another moment we were 
joined by the gallant Twenty-first Massachusetts. * * * Cheer 
answered cheer, and both regiments charged the enemy, who 
41 



6i8 UNDER GRANT IN VIRGINIA. 

were driven back into their intrenchments with great loss." 
In this battle, Patrick Meehan of the Twenty-first and Tim- 
othy Higgins of the Fifty-seventh, another regiment of the 
Ninth Corps, were wounded. 

On the 20th of May, leaving his hammering for a while, 
Grant again resorted to manoeuvre, and passing around the 
rebels moved to the North Anna, only to find his way again 
blocked by Lee. The fighting here was less bloody than in 
the Wilderness and at Spottsylvania, as the rebel position 
was so strong that even Grant did not think it best to attempt 
to carry it, and he tried to reach Richmond by the Pamun- 
key and Chickahominy Rivers. In a picket fight, which 
occurred the last of May, Corporal James A. Bonney of the 
Fifteenth was killed by a sharpshooter. 

Meanwhile, the Army of the James under Butler threat- 
ened Richmond on the south and made ready to cooperate 
effectively with Meade as soon as he should draw near from 
the north. While the battles fought by Butler were on a 
much smaller scale than those of Meade, yet the casualties 
to Clinton men were greater. The Twenty-fifth was assigned 
to the Eighteenth Corps, Second Division, the " Star Bri- 
gade." General Heckman was in command of this brigade. 
The movement began at the same time as that of the Army 
of the Potomac. On May 4th, the regiment went to Ber- 
muda Hundreds. Thence, they were moved to a point be- 
tween Petersburg and Richmond. May 6th, Heckman's 
Brigade made a reconnoissance to the railroad connecting 
those cities, with the idea of taking possession of it if pos- 
sible. In a diary of one of the soldiers, we read: " The two 
skirmish lines drew nearer and nearer, each watching the 
other closely, and finally halting and crouching upon their 
knees when only the distance of a stone's throw separates 
them, ready for an instant spring, like a tiger waiting for 
its prey. Fifteen long minutes, they thus crouch and wait, 
tightly grasping their arms, as immovable as statues, until 
at last the rebel line, turning, creeps slowly and noiselessly 



IN THE VALLEY OF THE JAMES. 619 

back to the main body. Our men spring to their feet, fire, 
and as quickly throw themselves upon the ground to avoid 
the reply." Later, the Twenty-fifth Regiment stood in re- 
serve, with the order, "Not a man fire," while the shots of 
the enemy picked them off one by one. The whole loss of 
the Twenty-fifth was only four killed and fifteen wounded, 
but three of the latter were Clinton men. Edward Klein 
was wounded in the knee, Karl Kochler in the arm, and 
Frederic Weisser in the arm and hand. This engagement is 
known as Port Walthal Junction. 

As this attempt on the railroad was only a partial success, 
a second attempt was made the next day at Chesterfield 
Junction. In this affair, the Twenty-fifth was not actively 
engaged, but on the 9th of the next month, as this second 
attempt was also a failure, a third was made at Arrowfield 
Church. In this attempt, the railroad was destroyed for a 
considerable distance. During the day. the "Star Brigade" 
repulsed a charge of the enemy. "A shot was heard, a yell, 
and the rebel line was seen advancing, charging down in 
splendid style across the open field. The moment Pickett, 
(in command of the Twenty-fifth), saw the enemy, he gave 
the order, ' Cease firing. Steady, men! steady!' and the men 
of the Twenty-fifth stood firm to meet the impact of the 
coming mass. The yelling line came on — steady, undaunted 
— came on to within twent}- or thirty yards, and then the 
clear voice of the colonel was heard: 'Ready, the Twenty- 
fifth! Fire!' A sheet of flame flashed out; the blue smoke, 
like a curtain, veiled the scene, and when it lifted a few 
staggering men were all that were left of the Twenty-fifth 
North Carolina." The victory was not without loss to Clin- 
ton men, for here Franz Miiller died and George Rauscher 
was wounded in the head. One of our Clinton men thus 
describes the conflict: " The opposing forces came down op- 
posite hills and met in the valley, a brook being between 
them. The Union troops had the advantage, being in some 
brushwood. The commanding officer of the Twenty-fifth 



620 UNDER GRANT IN VIRGINIA. 

North Carolina Regiment, seeing the Twenty-fifth Massa- 
chusetts standing in battle line, asked, 'What regiment is 
that?' Somebody answered, 'The Twenty-fifth Massachu- 
setts,' whereupon the Twenty-fifth North Carolina Regiment 
immediately charged. Orders were received to fire low, 
which we did, raising great havoc among the rebels. Almost 
all the wounds of the rebels were in the head or breast. At 
midnight, some of Company G went among the wounded 
rebels, administering to their needs." 

In the next meeting with the enemy, which took place at 
Drewry's Bluff on the i6th of May, the tables were turned 
and the Union troops suffered more than the enemy. The 
Confederates were now under command of Beauregard, who 
had brought up a large reenforcement. During the night of 
the 15th, he seized an opportunity which was presented to 
him of throwing troops around on the flank and the rear of 
the Union troops, who were before the rebel fortifications of 
Drewry's Bluff. Heckman's Brigade was upon this flank. 
In the mist of the morning, the enemy were able to steal 
close upon them, before they were aware of their presence. 
Quicker than thought the men seize their arms and leaping 
to the rear of the intrenchments pour an unceasing fire upon 
the charging enemy, who pause, staggered by their awful 
loss. The report of Colonel Pickett to the state executive 
tells the rest: "Surrounded, their ammunition exhausted, 
they (the men of the Twenty-fifth) were faced by the rear 
rank, charged the rebel lines, throwing the enemy into such 
confusion as to enable the regiment to extricate itself from 
one of the most perilous positions in which troops ever found 
themselves placed," The loss of the regiment was heavier 
than it had been in the previous fighting, though Clinton 
men suffered less in proportion to the others. Amos E. 
Stearns was captured. Sergeant Philip Rauscher, John T. 
Coulter, Joseph Schusser and Carl Kochler were wounded. 
A comrade of Joseph Shusser, says that it was at this battle 
he was captured rather than at Cold Harbor. John R. Bur- 



COLD HARBOR. 62 1 

gess of the Twenty-seventh was also captured here and car- 
ried to Andersonville. Here, he was so nearl)' starved that 
he died April 21, 1865, two days after he was exchanged. 
The Fourth Cavalry participated in this action, but without 
serious casualties. 

As General Heckman was captured at Drewry's Bluff, 
Colonel Pickett took command of the " Star Brigade," while 
the regiment was handed over to Moulton. As a result of 
the battle, Butler was obliged to withdraw to Bermuda Hun- 
dreds, where the men worked throwing up intrenchments. 
The position was such that while it was easy to defend him- 
self from the enemy, it was difficult to make any aggressive 
movement. He was, to use his own expression, "bottled up." 
As Meade's army had lost over thirty thousand men during 
the month of May, Grairt now ordered Butler to send the 
larger portion of his force to him. These troops were put 
under the command of General W. F. Smith, Brooks com- 
manding the division and Stannard the brigade in which the 
Twenty-fifth was organized. They got under way on May 
29th, reaching Cold Harbor on the 1st of June. 

It was at Cold Harbor, upon the Chickahominy, that Lee 
was now attempting to block the advance of Grant toward 
Richmond, and here, for the fourth time Grant, untaught by 
former failures, renews his fatal "hammering." On its 
arrival, Smith's Eighteenth Corps found the Sixth Corps 
engaged with the enemy and, though exhausted from the 
march, immediately took part in the struggle. At the end 
of the day, the first line of the enemy's ranks was carried, 
but the second was still firm. The next day, there was less 
fighting, but Grant's favorite order was again given that on 
June 3d there should be a general assault all along the line. 
The Second Corps stood on the left, then in order the Sixth, 
Eighteenth, Fifth, Ninth, so the men of the Fifteenth and 
Twenty-fifth Regiments were widely separated, and those of 
the Twenty-first and the Thirty-sixth were still further to the 
right. As the Ninth Corps was getting into position, mov- 



622 UNDER GRANT IN VIRGINIA. 

ing from Bethesda Church, Crittenden's Division, containing 
the Twenty-first, was attacked by the rebels. This division 
was in the rear and acted as a guard in the movement. The 
division as a whole, and the Twenty-first Regiment in partic- 
ular, withstood the attack grandly until the other divisions 
came to their support and the rebels were driven back. The 
Twenty-first Regiment suffered badly, losing forty-seven men 
from its ranks already so sadly wasted. John Quinn was 
wounded in the shoulder. He was carried to the field hos- 
pital, and died June 9th. Luther E. Stewart was wounded 
in the foot and amputation was necessary. 

The morning assault on the almost impregnable works of 
the enemy was to be made especially by the Second, Sixth 
and Eighteenth Corps. Gibbons' Division of the Second 
Corps was divided by a gradually widening swamp of which 
the troops had no previous knowledge, but nevertheless ad- 
vanced to the fortifications of the enemy under the most 
withering fire. Those that were left of them gained the 
intrenchments, but they could not take them, and within 
twenty-two minutes of the time the signal was given for the 
advance of the Second Corps, nearly three thousand of its 
men had been lost. Charles G. Ryder of the Fifteenth, was 
one of those who fell into the hands of the enemy. 

The advance of Smith's command was made with no less 
heroism and no greater success. There was one point of the 
enemy's works stronger and more important than any other. 
Against this Smith was directed to send his best brigade. 
Of course, the 'Star Brigade" was chosen, and well did they 
prove by their deeds that the choice was a just one. The 
corps as a whole passed up a ravine, where for a time they 
were protected from the cross fire of the enemy, then 
emerged and moved steadily on ; not a man faltered. The 
rifle-pits of the enemy were seized, and the lines re-adjusted 
while the fire was pouring in from front and left and right. 
The brigade, with the Twenty-fifth in front, again advances 
to its hopeless task. Three times it renews the assault. 



COLD HARBOR. 623 

until the number of those who have fallen, wounded or dead, 
is more than twice as great as the number of those in the 
ranks. Then it was ordered to withdraw. In the Twenty- 
fifth Regiment, there was a loss of two hundred and twenty 
out of the three hundred engaged. 

There was only one other instance in the whole war 
where the per cent, of wounded and dead was as great as 
this in a single battle, and there have been very few in the 
history of the world. Clinton had her share in this glory 
and in this slaughter, for among the names of those who 
were killed are those of Corporal Moritz Grumbacher and 
Corporal Kohule. Here, the regimental history says that 
Joseph Schusser was captured, to die August i6th amid the 
horrors of Andersonville. Here, Sergeant Philip Reischer 
was wounded in the side, and Corporal George F. Stearns in 
the hip. 

Although the Ninth Corps did not participate in the 
morning assault, yet its history, too, for the day, is written in 
blood. Lieutenant A. S. Davidson was again slightly 
wounded, and the name of Frank A. Chenery was added to 
the list of the dead. Burnside threw forward the Second 
and Third Divisions early in the morning, and the Thirty- 
sixth, with its companion regiments, took the rifle-pits of 
Early's left and established their line close to that of the 
rebels, awaiting, under a terrific fire, the expected order to 
charge. Fortunately, that order never came, for the failure 
of the morning proved that further waste of life was useless. 

A Clinton man of the Thirty-sixth thus wrote home: 
"When we had lain for about an hour an order came to fall 
in. We marched up to the front and lay behind the breast- 
works until nearly morning. At twelve at night I was de- 
tailed to go on the skirmish line. Soon after, our brigade 
moved away back, and made breastworks. We worked there 
till morning, then we were ordered to march, and went off 
to the left and formed a line of battle and moved forward. 
Soon we came upon the enemy and drove them back about 



624 UNDER GRANT IN VIRGINIA. 

half a mile. Then the contest began, and it was hot, I tell 
you, all the time. All the bullets came in range to hit us. 
We went to work and built some breastworks. We fought 
them all day, and made terrible havoc. We lost in killed 
and wounded, fifty-eight — nine killed and the rest wounded. 
Our company lost three killed and four wounded. We are 
now within seven miles of Richmond. * * * Tell the folks 
that Frank Chenery was killed." 

As soon as it was seen that the process of " hammering" 
at Cold Harbor was in vain, Grant, by a masterly movement, 
proceeded to throw his whole army across the James, in 
order that he might cut off all communication of Richmond 
with the South as near to the city as possible. As a means 
to this end, the capture of Petersburg became desirable. 
The army were all across the river by the i6th, without any 
serious interference from the enemy. 

Meanwhile, General Smith, with the Eighteenth Corps, 
went by transport down the Pamunkey and York Rivers 
into the James and Appomatox to Broadway Landing, 
thence he marched to Petersburg, reaching there early on 
June 15th. The works had the appearance of great strength, 
but they had few defenders, and if Smith had pressed on at 
once to the capture of the city, it would probably have been 
taken. The Twenty-fifth Regiment remained in a corn-field 
during the day. Towards evening an advance was made, 
and the outworks of the enemy were easily captured. Con- 
tent with this, Smith waited for Hancock, who was now 
approaching. Two Clinton men were wounded in this fight- 
ing of June 15th, Bernard Brockleman in the leg, and 
Frederick Wenning in the arm. A Clinton man of the 
Twenty-fifth says of that night: "The men dug holes, large 
enough for three men, in which they could lie, safe from the 
bullets of the enemy. Petersburg, on the i6th, was not at 
all strongly defended, and the Union forces could easily have 
taken it that day, but orders were received to wait until the 
next day. That night the whistling and rumbling of cars 



PETERSBURG. 625 

bringin<T reenforcements to Petersburg could be heard in the 
camp. The next day the fortifications were impregnable." 

On the i6th, assaults on the city were made by the 
Second Corps, supported by portions of the Ninth and 
Eighteenth, with partial success. On the 17th, the Ninth 
Corps made a series of assaults. The Second Division went 
first, early in the morning, and the Thirty-sixth did some 
good fighting and gained some decided advantage. The 
division containing the Twenty-first did not advance until six 
in the afternoon. Charging fearlessly over the bodies of a 
thousand of their comrades of the Second and Third 
Divisions who had fallen in the two previous attacks, they 
carried and occupied the rebel lines in their front. After 
dark, as their ammunition had given out, they were obliged 
to return before the advancing rebels and give up the ad- 
vantage gained. Here, John Tracy was wounded in the 
shoulder. He died in Nashville, Tennessee, January 31, 
1865. On the i8th, the Twenty-fifth Regiment made an 
attack upon the intrenchments of the enemy near the river, 
advancing ineffectively against a heavy fire of shot and 
shell. In a few minutes, nineteen men were lost. Michael 
Suss was killed, and Gottfried Speisser was severely wounded 
in the face. On the same day, the Thirty-sixth did some 
severe fighting in seizing and holding a railroad cut and the 
fortifications about it. At this time, Sergeant Hiram W. 
Olcott was wounded. 

It has, perhaps, been noted that little has been said of 
the Fifteenth Regiment since the battle of Cold Harbor. 
The fact is, that the only three Clinton men. Lieutenant 
William J. Coulter, Sergeant David O. Wallace and James 
Clifford, out of the seventy-eight who had left home, now 
remained on regular duty with the regiment in the field. 
On the 22d of June, these three were all captured, with the 
rest of the Fifteenth, in an advance on the Weldon Railroad. 
A sudden and totally unexpected attack of a large body of 
the rebels on the rear and flank of Gibbons' Division, as it 



626 UNDER GRANT IN VIRGINIA. 

lay in the rifle-pits in a swamp, waiting for an impending 
attack in front, threw the little remnant of it that was left 
into confusion, and before the line could be restored many 
were captured. It was only three weeks before their term 
of service would expire, but it was many weary months be- 
fore any of them were destined to see their homes, and one, 
David O. Wallace, died in Florence, S. C, February 4, 1865, 
as they were being transferred from prison to prison to be 
out of the way of "Sherman's March to the Sea." 

Heman O. Edgerly, who had been transferred from the 
Fifteenth to the Fourth New Hampshire, was wounded be- 
fore Petersburg and died from the effects of the wound. 
Frank E. Houghton, who had been transferred to Rickett's 
Battery, U. S. A., was killed at St. Mary's Church, June 24th, 
and it should here be noted that Rickett's Battery, to which 
he and his two comrades of the Fifteenth had been trans- 
ferred, had been continually with the Army of the Potomac, 
and had participated in its battles. 

The twelve other men who had entered this regiment and 
who had been transferred, or who had been in the hospital 
or had been detailed for other duty than regular service in 
the Fifteenth, were mustered out during July or August. 
Those who were in prison were mustered out when they were 
released, in March, 1865. George I. Henery remained 
another year in the Veteran Reserve Corps. Four who had 
reenlisted were transferred to the Twentieth Massachusetts, 
and remained in active service until the close of the war. 

After these few days of futile attempts to take the forti- 
fications of Petersburg by assault, the attack settled down 
into a siege. On the very day that the remnant of the Fif- 
teenth were captured, the Thirty-sixth began its work in the 
trenches, and before the day was ended one of our Clinton 
men, Abial Fisher, was wounded in the arm. A rebel ac- 
count of the siege of Petersburg says: "The enemy (the 
Union army) plied pick and spade and axe with such silent 
vigor that there arose as if by a touch of the magician's wand 



BATTLE OF THE CRATER. 627 

a vast cordon of redoubts of powerful profile, connected by 
heavy infantry parapets, stretching from the Appomattox to 
the extreme Federal left — a line of prodigious strength and 
constructed with amazing skill." A man of the Twenty-fifth 
Massachusetts wrote: " Now commenced the terrible life in 
the trenches, and there were no places a man could choose 
for comfort." These trenches were shallow earthworks with 
parapets formed of the earth thrown out, with loop-holes 
made usually of sand-bags. They were generally provided 
with little canvas shelters to protect from the sun. In many 
cases, men dug caves in the earth which afforded protection 
against pieces of shell and other missiles thrown in the fre- 
quent artillery duels. In the trenches, officers and men lived 
for days, weeks and months. Food was brought to them by 
the company cooks. While our army occupied these 
trenches, the enemy occupied similar ones only a few rods 
away in front, and each lay watching the other, watching a 
chance to get a shot that would send some one to his death. 
To the end of August, the average number of wounded in 
the Eighteenth Corps was thirty per day, and ambulances 
were kept in constant readiness to remove the wounded or 
sick. Here, on June 25th, Herman Holman was wounded 
so that his left leg had to be amputated^ and July 12th, 
Henry Linenkemper received a wound in the back. 

On July 30th, the Ninth Corps took part in the "Battle 
of the Crater." A mine had been dug under one of the rebel 
forts called the Elliott Salient. Here, eight thousand pounds 
o'f powder were placed. The powder was carried into the 
mine by a detail of four men under charge of our townsman, 
Captain A. S. Davidson, then in command of Company G. 
It was exploded on the morning of the 30th, the fort was 
blown high in the air, and the Ninth Corps, led by Ledlie's 
Division, with the Twenty-first Massachusetts well to the 
front, charged through the crater thus formed, on to the 
lines of the enemy. They were poorly led and the rebels 
recovered from their confusion before any impression had 



628 UNDER GRANT IN VIRGINIA. 

been made on their lines, and poured down from front and 
sides a deluge of lead and bursting shells upon the mass of 
humanity struggling in the crater. The rest of the Ninth 
Corps, including the Thirty-sixth, followed up the attack, 
but as the troops were thus crowded more closely, and were 
trying to move in opposite directions, the confusion was only 
redoubled. When the men were at last withdrawn, nearly 
four thousand had fallen. The only victim in this " miser- 
able affair" among our Clinton soldiers was Sergeant Charles 
R. Renner, who received wounds from which he died August 
22d. Edward M. Fuller (claimed by both Lancaster and 
Clinton), major of the Thirty-ninth United States Colored 
Troops, was wounded. 

In August, the two Clinton men of the Twenty-first who 
still remained in the army, and who had not reenlisted, were 
ordered home to be mustered out. John Tracy was in the 
hospital from wounds, never to recover. The four who were 
left in active service were enrolled in the Twenty-first Bat- 
talion. On August 19th, this organization took part in the 
battle of Poplar Springs Church. Late in October, it was 
consolidated into the Thirty-sixth Massachusetts. 

The Twenty-fifth Regiment was withdrawn from the siege 
of Petersburg and sent to the line at Bermuda Hundreds, 
and September 6th, it was sent to Newbern, N. C. But even 
here, death was lurking in wait for his victims. Yellow fever 
prevailed, and Samuel D. Champney contracted the disease, 
from which he died in quarantine in New York City, October 
10, 1864. October 5th, those of the survivors who had not 
re-enlisted, started for home and were mustered out at Wor- 
cester, October 20th. In the four months in Virginia, out of 
the twenty-four that set out for that state with the regiment, 
one had been discharged for disability, four had been killed, 
two were still in rebel prisons, one never to return, and 
nearly all the others had been wounded, some, several times. 
As three had re-enlisted and one died on the way home, 
there were only thirteen left to be mustered out. The rem- 



ARMY OF THE SHENANDOAH. 629 

nant of the regiment served in North Carolina to the end of 
the war, "and was mustered out July 13, 1865. 

Lieutenant Samuel M. Bowman of the Fifty-first Regi- 
ment was hit by a shell at Petersburg, and died July 26th. 
On the 1st of August, there were fourteen Clinton men left 
in the Thirty-sixth, although not more than half of these 
could have been on regular duty in the ranks. These took 
part, August 19th, in the successful engagement by which 
the control of the Weldon Railroad was secured, and in the 
disastrous affair at Pegram Farm, September 30th. It is 
possible that Roger Eccles was one of those taken prisoner 
in this engagement, although his capture is given as at 
Petersburg, two days later. He was carried to Salisbury, N. 
C, where he died, January 9, 1865. The remainder of the 
autumn and winter were passed near Petersburg in compara- 
tive quiet. 

Some of the Clinton men of the Fourth Cavalry were 
doing service all the time from May 8th through the summer 
and fall, in the Army of the James, or, after the consolidation, 
in the Army of the Potomac. They took part in various 
engagements, and performed such duties as were required of 
them, but such was their good fortune that they did not lose 
a man or suffer any serious casualties during this bloody 
struggle, and the close of the year saw all the thirteen men, 
who had enlisted January 6, 1864, still on duty. 

We have yet to follow the history of the Army of the 
Shenandoah under General Sigel, which was to cooperate 
with Grant in his movement on Richmond. Clinton was 
represented in this force at first by the Thirty-fourth Regi- 
ment alone. This regiment, which we have seen on guard 
duty about Washington and Harper's Ferry, had known little 
fighting previous to the opening of this campaign. On the 
i8th of October, 1863, it had a running fight, as it pursued 
for some six miles the fleeing rebel cavalry under Imboden, 
but no Clinton men were injured. In the winter, it had 



630 



UNDER GRANT IN VIRGINIA. 



received six recruits, who were mustered in December and 
January, 1863-4. As one man had been discharged and one 
transferred, there were in May, 1864, fifteen Clinton men in 
the regiment. 

May 2d, the Thirty-fourth was at Winchester ; May 9th, 
it moved to Cedar Creek; May 14th, to New Market. Here, 
the next day, it met the enemy. Company B, in which most 
of the Clinton boys had enlisted, acted together with Com- 
pany I as a skirmish line. Later, the regiment received and 
checked a charge of the rebels. Then they made an un- 
successful counter-charge, with great loss. Horatio E, 
Turner was wounded and taken prisoner. He died in 
Andersonville, September 8, 1864. May 22d, Sigel was 
succeeded by General Hunter. A forward movement was 
made, in which the first decided resistance was met at Pied- 
mont, on June 5th. One, who was present at the battle, 
states : 

"Upon nearing the enemy, the Thirty-fourth was de- 
tached from its brigade, and ordered to move, by left flank, 
through the fields to a hollow, then to advance in line, 
facing the woods occupied by the enemy. This movement 
threatened the enemy's flank. As we. having gained the 
hollow, raised the crest of the hill beyond, a volley was 
poured into us which killed four and wounded others. 
Here, at a scant twenty rods distance, we delivered our fire, 
and rushed on. The enemy broke back into the woods in 
some confusion ; our line advanced, cheering, and the day 
was seemingly ours. But the enemy rallied, and renewed 
his fire with great fury. Here, we had a fair stand-up fight 
for about twenty minutes, when suddenly a heavy fire broke 
out on our left, against which a strong force was being 
brought forward. This was the enemy's reserve. Approach- 
ing down an open road, it poured a withering fire into our 
very faces. In less than five minutes, we lost our major, 
adjutant, senior captain, and fifty-three men killed or 
wounded." The victory finally, however, rested with our 



THE THIRTY-FOURTH AT NEW MARKET. 63 1 

troops, but it was purchased at a heavy cost to the regiment, 
which lost thirteen killed and ninety-seven wounded. 
Thomas J. Burns received a wound in the breast of which 
he died, June loth, at Piedmont. James A. Needham was 
wounded. 

Colonel Wells of the Thirty-fourth being called to the 
command of the First Brigade, took with him his own regi- 
ment. An advance was made to Lynchburg, and on the 
i8th, the intrenchments of the enemy were attacked without 
success, and the rebels were driven back when they tried to 
break our line. The engagement lasted two hours, and was 
without any decided advantage to either side. As the rebels 
received reenforcements at night, the Union troops with- 
drew. John Bell was among the wounded, and Enos Messier 
was taken a prisoner, to die at Andersonville, September 23d. 

As General Early had received a great accession to his 
numbers, he commenced an aggressive campaign, with the 
hope of calling troops from Grant to the defence of Wash- 
ington. The Union forces were obliged to flee before the 
overwhelming force of their opponents. Early gained con- 
trol of the whole Shenandoah Valley, but failed to accom- 
plish his main purpose. At the beginning of August, 
General Sheridan took command of this department. The 
Third Massachusetts Cavalry, which had taken part in the 
Red River expedition, was ordered to the north, and having 
been dismounted, was joined to Sheridan's forces. In this 
regiment, there were at this time ten Clinton men. As 
twelve remained in the Thirty-fourth Infantry, there were 
twenty-two Clinton men in all in Sheridan's army. 

The Union troops, with enlarged forces and a new com- 
mander, assumed the aggressive. After various rapid move- 
ments, they engaged the Confederates at Opequan, and after 
a sharp battle drove them from the field. Although the 
Thirty-fourth was closely engaged, we have no record of 
any casualties that befell the Clinton men, but the Third 
Cavalry was not so fortunate. Three times did that regiment 



632 UNDER GRANT IN VIRGINIA. 

share in a determined charge, and the final victory was due 
in no small part to its valor. The regiment lost one hundred 
and four officers and men, among whom were Benjamin 
Davenport and John Gately, killed, and George O. Howard, 
wounded in the right shoulder, and Robert King, wounded in 
the knee. It may be that Francis Lovell was taken prisoner 
here, or, perhaps, a month later at Cedar Creek. All that is 
known is that he was taken somewhere in this campaign, and 
that he died, February 21, 1865, in a rebel prison. On 
September 22d, the retreating rebels made a stand at Fisher 
Hill and were again defeated, and Sheridan again pursued. 

In October, Sheridan began to withdraw his troops to the 
upper part of the valley, and on the 13th, two brigades were 
ordered out to drive off what was supposed to be a small 
reconnoitering body of the enemy. They found the rebels 
in force, and a withdrawal was ordered, but as the aide who 
carried the order was shot after he had given the order to a 
part of the troops, but before he had reached Wells' brigade, 
and as an intervening ridge prevented Wells from seeing the 
withdrawal of the other brigade, his brigade was nearly cut 
off and its leader mortally wounded. James A. Needham 
and Thomas Gallagher were wounded and taken prisoners. 
The latter was taken to Libby Prison, Richmond, where he 
stayed until he was paroled, in April, 1865. James A. Need- 
ham escaped. 

Again, at Cedar Creek, October 19th, the Union troops 
were surprised by the enemy, who crept upon their flanks in 
the mist and darkness, while Sheridan was "at Winchester, 
twenty miles away." The Union troops retreated to Middle- 
town before the flight was stayed. There, Sheridan met 
them, and led them back to victory. The Third Cavalry 
was not among those troops who were surprised, but it fought 
continually during the day, and participated in the final 
victory. We have no record that any Clinton men suffered 
in the engagement. The campaign ended with this battle. 
The Third Cavalry saw no more important active service. 



IN THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 633 

The Thirty-fourth was ordered to the Army of the James, 
which was under command of General Ord. It reached this 
army December 25th, with the names of ten Clinton men on 
the rolls. 

When the spring campaign opened, the Clinton men of 
the Thirty-fourth and Thirty-sixth Infantry, and the Third 
and Fourth Cavalry, were all actively engaged in the closing 
scenes of the war. In the final movement on Petersburg, 
April 2d, the Thirty-fourth took part in the attack, but no 
casualties are recorded in the case of any Clinton man. 
The Thirty-sixth was in one of the forts, and was not 
engaged in the fighting. The next day, it was found that all 
the Confederate troops had withdrawn from the city. It 
was a joyous day for the men who had endured so much for 
the ten long months during which the city had been be- 
sieged. The joy of the occasion was emphasized by the 
information that Richmond was also in the possession of our 
army and by the arrival of President Lincoln, who received 
a grand ovation. 

Then came a few days of rapid movement to cut off the 
retreat of Lee. The Thirty-fourth was among the regiments 
that stood planted in his path at the time of his final 
surrender on the gth of April, at Appomattox. It is doubt- 
fully asserted that John W. Holbrook of the Thirty-fourth, 
was killed in a skirmish with the enemy, April 6th, but it is 
probable that he was captured before this time. The Fourth 
Cavalry, as a whole, did effective work during this pursuit, 
though it was not the fortune of our Clinton boys to be in 
those companies which fought so heroically at High Bridge. 
John Gibbons of this regiment died July 15, 1865, in Rich- 
mond, while still in service. 

When it was known that Lee had surrendered, the exul- 
tation of the soldiers knew no bounds. Only the men who 
had suffered the hardships of war could appreciate the value 
and joy of victory. One moment the hardened cheeks of 
the veterans were moistened with tears, as they grasped each 



634 UNDER GRANT IN VIRGINIA. 

other's hands with sobbing words of joy, the next the air 
was filled with delirious cheers. Not alone in the army, but 
at Clinton and throughout the North the glad bells were 
ringing, hearts were tumultuously beating and hosannas were 
rising to the God of Battles who had given the victory. Six 
days later, joy was changed into mourning by the sad 
intelligence that the nation's chief had fallen by the hand of 
an assassin. It is unnecessary for us to enter into the details 
of the next two months, or to describe the return of the 
regiments, since all the particulars can be learned from the 
individual record. 

The return of soldiers discharged or mustered out was of 
common occurrence during the last years of the war. Such 
soldiers were always sure of a warm welcome, whether they 
came as individuals or in organizations. Those, who had 
returned before July 4, 1865, were invited to a reception in 
Worcester on that date. This invitation was quite generally 
accepted. Before these veterans started for the city, a 
public breakfast was given them at sunrise by the citizens of 
Clinton. Among the exercises there was a flag raising on 
the Common, at which an address was delivered by Hon. 
Charles G. Stevens. As his eloquent words so truly express 
the feelings which were present in the hearts of all his fellow 
citizens, they may fitly close this record of what Clinton did 
for the country against the armed hosts of the rebellion : 

'"'Soldiers: You who have opposed your bodies as a 
living rampart against the attack of foes who in the blind- 
ness of insane fury would tear it (the flag) to the ground; 
you who have left all the delights of home, the comforts 
and luxuries earned by your own strength in the pursuit of 
peaceful industry, and have bravely encountered and en- 
dured the hardships, the perils and the sufferings of the 
camp, the march and the battle, with the horrors of the 
prison-house, that your eyes might not behold a dishonored 
flag, a dissevered country, a government broken, shattered 
and destroyed, and upon its ruins erected a tyranny beneath 



WELCOME HOME. 635 

whose despotic arms no freeman could breathe in safety; 
you who have returned with laurels of the conqueror upon 
)'our brow, who can now rejoice over ' the battle fought and 
the victory won,' and forgetting the long, tedious months 
and years of anxiety and dread, can now securely rest in the 
knowledge that through your patient persevering and un- 
dying courage the contest has ended in the complete over- 
throw of the rebellion and the enforced submission of the 
whole band of traitors; — to your hands has it been entrusted 
to raise this glorious banner on high, — to you has it been 
committed to signalize the celebration of this day — a day 
doubly to be hallowed in the future — by tossing to the breeze, 
to float in triumphant freedom, the flag for which, and under 
which, you have so nobly battled. To you and to your 
children, and to your children's children, may this day ever 
be one held in fond remembrance. Ever will it be one of 
your proudest boasts that you were of that army of citizen 
soldiery that fought so gallantly for the right; and as the 
years roll on, and the recollection of hardships and suffer- 
ings dims with fleeting time, the glorious results achieved by 
your labors will cause a thrill of joy to course through your 
veins, and more and more will it be to you a cause for satis- 
faction that you were enabled to share with that heroic band 
the honor of so mighty a contest. 

"The battle over, the strife ended, your labors done, we 
welcome you to your honors ! We saw you go forth to the 
fight with hearts full of fear for )'our safety, and the many 
brave hearts who so gallantly buckled on their armor with 
you, whom you left behind, attest how terribly our fears 
have been realized. We have followed you step by step 
through all your perilous march and life of danger; we have 
wept for your suffering and prayed for you, and with equal 
joy shared your success. The little we could do for those 
you left at home, and for your own comfort in camp and 
hospital and prison, has been done as a cheerful duty to you 
and a relief to us. Through all the fortunes of war, our con- 



636 UNDER GRANT IN VIRGINIA. 

fidence in your manly courage and fortitude has never 
faltered. We could not believe, we never did believe that 
you would return finally otherwise than as victors. Though 
at times the heavens seemed hung with blackness and 
terrible doubts were whispered in our ears, we never lost our 
trust in the good God who holds the destinies of nations in 
his hand, and at length has He given you the victory! May 
your future days be full of peace, prosperity and happiness. 
The debt the country owes your patriotism is too large ever 
to be fully paid ; but a nation's gratitude is yours, and 
millions of grateful hearts will ever remember your priceless 
services. 

"While with heartfelt joy we welcome you to home and 
friends — while we drop the tear of sympathy for all those 
who have sent to the battle-field loved ones whose forms 
they may never again behold — today, here and now, we can- 
not regret your hardships, nor can we hardly show a single 
tear of sorrow for those whose bones lie beneath the blood- 
stained sod. True patriots, they have given to their country 
the fullest evidence of their love. Martyred heroes ! their 
memory will ever be cherished; and when in this our good 
time a merciful Providence shall have healed the wounded 
hearts now stricken, mother, wife and sister will so rejoice 
over the manner of their death that all cause for mourning 
and sorrow will be forgotten, and loving children now weep- 
ing in desolate orphanhood will glory and boast over their 
descent from those who have dared even to die for their 
country." 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

Clinton Soldiers' Individual Record. 

MASSACHUSETTS REGIMENTS — (Three Years). 

Contractions.— capt., captain; lieut., lieutenant; sergt., sergeant; corpl., corporal; 
Co., company; m., mustered; m. out, mustered out; dischd, discharged; dis., disability; 
w., wounded; expr., expiration. 

First Regiment. 

Brothers, Hippolyte P., musician, 26. Mustered May 25, '61 ; dischd. 
with band July 27, '62; re-enlisted in Forty-seventh, Co. E, Nov. 6, '62, 
as a soldier, credited to Charlestown; m. out Sept. i, '63; re-enlisted 
Jan. 4, '64, in Regular Army as musician; m. out June 30, '65. 

Brown, Edwin J., 35. Co. K; m. Sept. 2, '63; m. out June 22, '65. 

Second Regiment. 
Date of muster. May 25, 1861. 

Bartlett, Anson B., 18. Co. D; corpl.; transferred Jan. 26, '63, to U. 

S. Army; assigned to Co. D, First Battalion, Sixteenth; re-enlisted 

Feb. 29, '64; dischd. as sergt. Feb. 27, '67, at expr. of service. 
Cheney, Gilbert A., 23. Co. D; w. at Antietam Sept. 17, '62; died Oct. 

18, '62. (Credited to Newton.) 
Hayes, Edward K., 21. Co. A; missing from July 27, '63; afterwards 

in Second N. Y. Cavalry. 
Orne, David J., 23. Co. D; m. out May 24, '64. 

Seventh Regiment. 

Date of muster, June 15, 1861. 

Shaw, John, 39; Co. A; dischd. for dis. July 20, '62. 
Shaw, John, Jr., 18. Co. A; missing from Oct. 10, '62. 

(Entered on rolls as from Somerset, but not enrolled there in 1863. 
They were residents of Clinton.) 



638 SOLDIERS' INDIVIDUAL RECORD. 

Ninth Regiineiit. 

Date of muster, June 11, 1861. 

Duncan, Charles, 28; born in Scotland. Co. C; killed July i,'62, at 

Malvern Hill. 
Gately, Martin, 31. Co. K; dischd. Dec. 22, '62. for dis. 
McNamara, Michael J., 18. Co. C; w. July i, '62, at Malvern Hill; 

dischd. Jan. 16, '63, for dis. 
O'TooLE, Michael, 21. Co. C; w. June 22, '62, at Gaines' Mill; dischd. 
June 21, '64, at expr. of service. 

Eleventh Regi7nent. 

Date of muster, June 13, 1861. 

Grady, Thomas, 18. Co. B; dischd. June 24, '64, at expr. of service as 

corpl. 
HoBBS, Charles P., 17. Co. B; missing from Nov. 18, '61. 

Fifteenth Regiment. 
Mustered July 12, 1S61. Company C, unless otherwise stated. 

Bowman, Henry, 26. Mustered Aug. i,'6i; capt.; prisoner at Ball's 
. Bluff, Oct. 21, '61, confined in Richmond; paroled Feb. 22, '62; ex- 
changed Aug. 2, '62; major Thirty-fourth, Aug. 6, '62, declined; colonel 
Thirty-sixth, Aug. 22, '62; commanded brigade in Mississippi; resigned 
July 27, '63; re-commissioned Oct., '63; unable to muster as regiment 
was below minimum; on special duty as chief of staff of General 
Wilcox, commanding at Cumberland Gap and in East Tennessee, 
Nov. 21 to Dec. 25, '63; appointed assistant quartermaster U. S. Vols., 
Feb. 29, '64; on duty in Virginia in '64, afterwards in Baltimore and 
Philadelphia; m. out Aug. 15, '66. 

Wheelock, William R., 39. Sergt; ist lieut. Oct. 10, '62; capt. Co. G, 
July 5, '63; dischd. July 28, '64, expr. of service. 

Buss, Elisha G., 26; born in Sterling, Mass. ist sergt.; 2d lieut. Nov. 
14, '62; ist lieut. March 15, '63; w. at Gettysburg July 3, and died of 
wound at Clinton, July 23, '63. 

Coulter, William J., 20. Corpl. Nov. 12, '62; sergt. Dec. 10, '62; ist 
lieut. Nov. 21, '63; prisoner at Petersburg, June 22, '64; confined in 
Richmond, Va., Macon, Ga., Charleston and Columbia, S. C; ex- 
changed March i, '65; transferred to Twentieth, July 28, '64; decHned 
commission; dischd. March 12; '65. 

Freeman, Joshua, 40. Sergt.; 2d lieut. March 19, '63; ist lieut. Sept. 
20, '63; dischd. July 28, '64, expr. of service. 

Fuller, Andrew L., 37. Mustered Aug. i, '61 ; ist lieut.; resigned Oct. 
7, '61, from ill-health. (Died Sept. 10, '67.) 



FIFTEENTH REGIMENT. 639 

Waters, William G., 23. Mustered July 24, '61; commissary sergt.; 
1st lieut. Oct. 27, '62; dischd. March 14, '63, for dis. (Name on the 
rolls as of Gorham, Maine, but commissioned as from Clinton.) 

Frazer, Charles, 23. Sergt.; 2d lieut. Aug. 6, '62; refused commis- 
sion; w. in hand at Antietam, Sept. 17, '62. 

Benson, Edward W., 25. Corpl; sergt.; taken to hospital July, '62; 
died from relapse of fever while on furlough, in Clinton, Aug. 3, '62. 

Brigham, John D., 27. Corpl.; sergt.; w. and prisoner at Ball's Bluff, 
Oct. 21, '61, confined in Richmond; dischd. Dec. 10, '62, for dis. 

Caulfield, Thomas, 24. Corpl.; sergt.; w. and prisoner at Antietam, 
Sept. 17, '62; oonfined in Richmond; paroled and dischd. about Dec. i, 
'62, for dis.; re-enlisted in Second Light Battery, Jan. 16, '64; w. and 
prisoner at Sabine Cross Roads, April g, '64; confined at Mansfield, 
Texas; exchanged June 20, '64; m. out Aug. 12, '65. 

Cook, Willis A., 32. Sergt.; prisoner at Ball's Bluff, Oct. 21, '61; con- 
fined in Richmond; dischd. April 12, '62, for dis. 

Fuller, Alden, 2g. Sergt.; prisoner at Ball's Bluff, Oct. 21, '61; con- 
fined in Richmond; dischd. March 11, '63. 

Taylor, Herbert D., 19. Co. A; corpl.; sergt.; prisoner at Peters- 
burg, June 22, '64; confined at Andersonville, Ga.; exchanged March 
I, '65; dischd. May 29, '65. (Credited to Sterling.) 

Wallace, David O., 19. Corpl.; sergt.; w. and prisoner at Ball's Bluff, 
Oct. 21, '61; prisoner at Petersburg, June 22, '64; transferred to Twen- 
tieth, July 27, '64; died in prison at Florence, S. C, Feb. 4, '65. 

Wright, Archibald D., 18. Sergt.; w. in abdomen, also ankle, at 
Ball's Bluff, Oct. 21, '61 ; in left arm at Gettysburg, July 3, '63; prisoner 
in Wilderness, May 6, '64; paroled; dischd. May 25, '65. 

Bonney, James A., 25. Corpl; prisoner at Ball's Bluff, Oct. 21, '61 ; con- 
fined in Richmond; killed May 31, '64, by sharpshooters. (Records 
say May 20, Spottsylvania.) 

Burgess, James F., 26. Corpl.; dischd. Jan. 7, '63, for dis. 

Chenery, James P., 19. Corpl.; prisoner at Ball's Bluff, Oct. 21, '61; 
confined in Richmond and Salisbury; killed at Gettysburg, July 2 or 

3. '63- 

Daboll, Briggs M., 39. Corpl.; w. in hand at Ball's Bluff, Oct. 21, '61; 
dischd. May i,'62, for dis. 

Putnam, Henry A., 24. Corpl.; prisoner at Ball's Bluff, Oct. 21, '61; 
confined in Richmond; dischd. Nov. 12, '62, to enlist in Rickett's Bat- 
tery, First Regt. Light Artillery, U. S. A.; dischd. July 12, '64, at expr. 
of service. 

Ryder, Charles G., 28. Mustered Aug. 12, '62; corpl.; prisoner at 
Cold Harbor, June 3, '64; confined in Richmond and Andersonville; 
dischd. May 17, '65. (Name on roll as of Rochester, but not enrolled 
there in 1863; lived in Clinton eleven years.) 



640 SOLDIERS' INDIVIDUAL RECORD. 

Malley, Edward, 20. Drummer; dischd. July 28, '64, at expr. of 
service. 

Mattoon, Chauncey B., 22. Band: dischd. Aug. 8, '62, with band. 

Batterson, Zadoc C, 26. Mustered Dec. 14, '61; killed at Antietam, 
Sept. 17, '62. 

Brigham, Samuel D., 40. Dischd. Jan. 24, '63; for dis. 

Burgess, Thomas H., 21. Wounded at Antietam, Sept. 17, '62; dischd. 
Nov. 15, '62, for dis. 

Carruth, John E., 19. Wounded in face at Antietam, Sept. 17, '62; 
dischd. March 11, '63, for dis.; re-enlisted Dec. 28, '63, in Second Heavy 
Artillery, Co. M; dischd. Sept. 3, '65, at expr. of service. 

Chambers, Hiram A., 19. Killed Sept. 17, '62, at Antietam. (Credited 
to Worcester.) 

Clifford, James, 20. Co. E; m. March 21, '64; prisoner at Peters- 
burg, June 22, '64; confined at Richmond, Andersonville and Florence; 
transferred July 27, '64, to Twentieth, Co. E; m. out June 30, '65. 

CoNNiG, Isaac P., 24. Mustered Aug. 12, '62; w. at Antietam, Sept. 17, 
'62; dischd. March 19, '63, for dis. (Credited to West Cambridge, but 
not enrolled there in 1863. Paid poll-tax in Clinton.) 

Cooper, Rufus K., 23. Prisoner at Ball's Bluff, Oct. 21, '61; w. at Get- 
tysburg, July 2, '63; dischd. July 28, '64, at expr. of service. 

Corcoran, William, 40. Co. F; dischd. Feb. 15, '62, for dis. 

Creelman, Matthew, 21. Missing from Dec, '61. 

Cutting, Orin L., 29. Dischd. Oct. 28, '62, for dis. 

Davidson, Henry L., 24. Re-enlisted Feb. 12, '64; transferred to Twen- 
tieth, Co. E, July 27, '64; m. out July 16, '65. (Credited to Sterling.) 

Dexter, Trustum D., 27. Wounded at Antietam, Sept. 17, '62; dischd. 
July 28, '64, at expr. of service. 

Dickson, Joseph S., 31. Wounded at Antietam, Sept. 17, '62; dischd. 
Dec. 16, '62, for dis. 

EccLES, William, 22. Wounded at Antietam, Sept. 17, '62; died Jan. 
4, 1863. 

Edgerly, Heman O., 22. Prisoner at Ball's Bluff, Oct. 21, '61; confined 
in Richmond and Salisbury; missing Nov. i,'62; re-enlisted in Fourth 
New Hampshire; w. at Petersburg, and died in '64. (Record not given 
on N. H. rolls under this name.) 

Frazer, John, 31. Killed at Antietam, Sept. 17, '62. 

Graichen, Frank, 28. Mustered Aug. 27, '61; w. at Ball's Bluff, Oct. 
21, '61; dischd. May 2, '62, for dis.; re-enlisted Dec. 24, '63, in Second 
Heavy Artillery, Co. M; dischd. Sept. 3, '65, at expr. of service. 

Graichen, Gustave, 22. Wounded at Antietam, Sept. 17. '62; dischd. 
Dec. 30, '62, for dis. 

Greenwood, Henry, 25. Prisoner at Ball's Bluff, Oct. 21, '61; confined 



FIFTEENTH REGIMENT. 64I 

in Richmond; dischd. Feb. 19, '64, to re-enlist; transferred to Twen- 
tieth, to Signal Corps July 27, '64; dischd. Aug. 16, '65. 

Hapgood, Charles H., 20. Wounded at Antietam, Sept. 17, '62; trans- 
ferred to V. R. C, Feb. 15/64; dischd. July 16/64. 

Hayes, Junius D., 24. Mustered Dec. 14, '61; dischd. Nov. 15, '62, for 
dis.; afterwards drafted and paid commutation, July, '63. 

Henry, George I., 20. Transferred Jan. 15, '64, to V. R. C. ; dischd. 
July 14, '65. 

Holbrook, Charles E., 19. Killed at Antietam, Sept. 17, '62. 

Holder, William P., 45. Mustered Jan. 5, '64; dischd. Jan. 22, '64. 
(Rejected recruit. See Fifty-third.) 

HOLMAN, Henry B., 19. Wounded in thigh and leg at Antietam, Sept. 
17, '62; dischd. Dec. 6, '62. (Killed by fall in Worcester, Feb. 20, '64.) 

HoLMAN, Joseph S., 20. Dischd. July 28, '64, at expr. of service. 

Houghton, Frank E., 18. Dischd. Nov. 12, '62, to re-enlist in Rickett's 
Battery, First Regt. Light Artillery, U. S. A.; killed at St. Mary's 
Church, June 24, '64. 

Howard, James O., 19. Prisoner at Ball's Bluff, Oct. 21, '61; confined 
in Richmond; re-enlisted in Rickett's Battery, First Regt. Light Ar- 
tillery, U. S. A.; dischd. June 24, '64. 

Hunt, Andrew J., 28. Transferred to Western Gunboat Flotilla, Aug. 
8, '63; dischd. Aug. 8, '64. 

Hunt, George W., 18. Dischd. Dec. 4, '63, for dis. 

Jaquith, Amos S., 35. Prisoner at Ball's Bluff, Oct. 21, '61; confined in 
Richmond; dischd. July 11, '64, at expr. of service. 

Jefts, Albert N., 20. Dischd. Nov. 12, '62, to enlist in Co. I, First U. 
S. Art.; dischd. June 4, '63, for dis. (Name on rolls, but not claimed 
by town authorities.) 

Kelley, John, 26. Mustered Sept. 4, '62. (Unassigned recruit; never 
left state.) 

Kirchner, John, 31. Supposed to have been drowned at Ball's Bluff, 
Oct. 21, '61. 

Laythe, Gilman W., 23. Wounded at Antietam, Sept. 17, '62; dischd. 
Jan. 6, '63, for dis. 

Laythe, Orin A., 25. Mustered Aug. 12, '62; w. at Antietam, Sept. 17, 
'62; dischd. March 14, '63, for dis. 

Lord, Alexander, 27. Mustered Aug. 12, '62; w. in left side at Antie- 
tam, Sept. 17, '62, and taken prisoner; held but a few days; killed at 
Gettysburg, July 2, '63. (Name on rolls as of Hinsdale, but lived in 
Clinton for four years previously.) 
Lowe, Theodore E., 21. Wounded at Antietam, Sept. 17, '62. Trans- 
ferred to V. R. C, Jan. 15. '64. 
Lyle, Alexander, 29. Wounded May 31, '62, at Fair Oaks; dischd. 
Sept. 18, '62, for dis. Re-enlisted in a Pennsylvania regiment. 



642 SOLDIERS' INDIVIDUAL RECORD. 

Makepeace, Hiram, 39. Dischd. July 31, '62, for dis. 

Maynard, Waldo B., 23. Wounded at Antietam, Sept. 17, '62; died 
Sept. 24, '62. (Name on rolls as of Northboro.) 

Miner, Joseph E., 26. Mustered Aug. 12, '62; w. at Antietam, Sept. 17, 
'62; dischd. July 28, '64, with regiment. (Name on rolls as of Boston.) 

MuiR, George, 21. Missing from Nov. i, '62: afterwards, in Thirteenth 
N. Y. Cavalry, Co. B. 

Olcott, Hervey B., 2g. Mustered Dec. 14, '61; w. at Antietam, Sept. 
17, '62, and atGettysburg, July 2 or 3, '63; transferred to V. R. C, March 
15, '64; dischd. Dec. 13, '64. (Died at Springfield, Mass., Feb. 27, '65.) 

Osgood, George F., 22. Mustered Aug. 12, '62; w. and prisoner at An- 
tietam, Sept. 17, '62; killed at Gettysburg, July 2 or 3, '63. 

Osgood, Otis S., 22. Wounded in left arm at Antietam, Sept. 17, '62; 
dischd. Jan. 10, '63, for dis. 

Pratt, Nelson L. A., 21. Co. H; m. Aug. 7, '61; Oct. 4, '62, was serving 
in New Jersey Cavalry, but legally a member of Fifteenth Massachu- 
setts; dischd. Oct. 24, '63. 

Putnam, George T. D., 21. Mustered Dec. 14, '61; dischd. Dec. 17, '62, 
for dis. 

Reekie, David, 22. Prisoner at Ball's Bluff, Oct. 21, '61; dischd. April 
20, '63, for dis. (Credited to West Boylston.) 

Sargent, Henry B., 16. Dischd. Feb. 11, '63, for dis.; re-enlisted, and 
m. Dec. 24, '63, in Second Heavy Artillery, Co. M; dischd. Sept. 3, '65, 
at expr. of service. 

Smith, Alfred, 27. Mustered Aug. 7, '62; w. at Antietam, Sept. 17, '62; 
dischd. Feb. 18, '64, to re-enlist from Northboro; July 27, '64, transferred 
to Twentieth; m. out July 15, '65. 

Smith, Francis E., 18. Died at David's Island, New York, July 23, '62. 

Smith, John, 27. Prisoner at Ball's Bluff, Oct. 21, '61 ; w. at Gettysburg, 
July 3, '63; transferred Jan. 14, '64, to V. R. C; dischd. July 18, '64; re- 
enlisted, and died at Rainsford Island, Boston Harbor. 

Spencer, Jonas H., 18. Co. F; dischd. Nov. 20, '62, to enlist in U. S. A. 

TowSLEY, Leonard M., 27. Wounded at Antietam, Sept. 17, '62; died 
Sept. 27, '62. 

Walker, William, 28. Killed or drowned at Ball's Bluff, Oct. 21, '61. 

NineteeJith Regiinetit. 
Date of muster, January 25, 1862. 

Green, Asa W., 22. Co. F; m. Jan. 30, '62; w. Dec. 13, '62, at Freder- 
icksburg; transferred to V. R. C, Sept. 26, '63; dischd. Jan. 25, '65. 
(Credited to Haverhill.) 

Green, Franklin W., 21. Co. F; w. in Seven Days' Fight, June, 1862; 
dischd. Feb. 19, '63, for dis. 



TWENTY-FIRST REGIMENT. 643 

Tivctitieth Regiment. 

BuRDETT, Thomas E., 22. Co. D; m. Sept. 4/61; m. out Sept. 14, '64. 

DiERSCH, William, 41. Co. C; m. July 18, '61; killed, accidentally, at 
Harrison's Landing, Va., July 7, '62. 

Graichen, Bernard, 21. Co. C; m. Aug. 29, '61 ; missing from June 30, 
'62. (Name on rolls as of Zietz, Saxony. Certificate of Colonel Pal- 
frey describes him as of Clinton.) 

Speisser, Christian, 33. Co. H; m. Aug. 24, '61; w. 1862; transferred 
to V. R.C., Aug. 19, '63; dischd. Jan. 4, '65. (Name on rolls as of Law- 
rence, but not enrolled there June, 1863.) 

Speisser, Gottfried C, 35. Co. C; m. Sept. 4, '61; died Sept. 18, '62, 
on steamer Commodore. (War Dept. letter, authority.) 

Twetity-fii'st Regi?nent. 
Date of muster, August 23, 1861. 

Renner, Charles R., 23. Co. F: m. Aug. 19, '61; dischd. Jan. i,'64, to 
re-enlist; sergt., July i, '64; w. in leg at Battle of the Mine, July 30, '64, 
and died at Douglas Hospital, Washington, Aug. 22, '64. 

Cohen, William, 19. Co. B; w. at Chantilly, Sept. i, '62; w. in Wilder- 
ness, May 6, '64; dischd. Jan. i, '64, to re-enlist; transferred to Thirty- 
sixth, Co. I, Nov. I, '64; transferred to Fifty-sixth, Co. B, June 8, '65; 
dischd. July 12, '65, as corpl., at expr. of service. 

Burke, Patrick, 22. Co. E; w. at Antietam, Sept. 17, '62; dischd. Jan. 
I, '64, to re-enlist; transferred to Thirty-sixth, Co. I, Nov. i,'64; trans- 
ferred to Fifty-sixth, Co. F, June 8, '65; dischd. July 12, '65, at expr. of 
service. 

Delany, John, 23. Co. B; re-enlisted Jan. 2, '64: dischd. for insanity 
Oct. 27, '64. (Credited by rolls to Clinton on re-enlistment, on first 
enlistment, to Webster.) 

Dickson, Patrick J., 22. Co. B; w. at Roanoke Island, Feb. 8, '62, and 
at Newbern, March 14, '62; dischd. Jan. i, '64, to re-enlist; transferred 
to Thirty-sixth, Co. I, Nov. i, '64; transferred to Fifty-sixth, Co. A, 
June 8, '65; dischd. July 12, '65, at expr. of service. 

Hall, Augustus M., 22. Co. E; dischd. Sept. 27, '62. 

Haworth, James, 27. Co. B; dischd. Aug. 30, '64, at expr. of service. 
(Credited on rolls to Springfield.) 

Hollihan, Michael, 27. Co. B; transferred Oct. 25, '62, to Fourth 
Regt., U. S. Cavalry. 

Hubbard, George, 22. Co. B; dischd. Sept. 14, '61. (Credited to Wor- 
cester on rolls.) 

Jameson, Calvin, 33. Co. E; dischd. March 16, '63, for dis. 

Kennev, Thomas, 21. Mustered March 11, '64; dischd. to re-enlist; 



644 SOLDIERS' INDIVIDUAL RECORD. 

transferred to Thirty-sixth, Co. I, June 8, '65; transferred to Fifty-sixth, 

Co. A; m. out July 12, '65. (Credited to Boston.) 
Mahar, Dennis, 21. Co. B; dischd. Jan. 16, '63, for dis. 
Maloney, Patrick, 28. Co. B; w. at Chantilly, Sept. i,'62; transferred 

to V. R. C, May 10, '63; re-enhsted in V, R. C, Jan. 5, '65. 
Maloy, Thomas, 22. Co. E; dischd. Feb. 3, '63; re-enlisted Dec. 11, '63, 

in Thirty-fourth, Co. B; transferred to Twenty-fourth, Co. A, June 14, 

'65; m. out Jan. 20, '66. 
McRoBiE, John, 32. Co. B; transferred to Co. F, Mar. i, '62; lost right 

arm at Chantilly, Sept. i, '62; dischd. Nov. 14, '62, for dis. 
Meehan, Patrick, 22. Co. B; w. at Chantilly, Sept. i. '62, and at Spott- 

sylvania Court House, May 10, '64; dischd. Aug. 30. '64, at expr. of 

service. 
Moulton, Charlfs H., 18. Co. E; missing Oct. 15, '62. 
Pinder, Calvin, 33. Co. G; dischd. to re-enlist; transferred to Co. K, 

Thirty-sixth, Nov. i,'64; transferred to Fifty-sixth, June 8, '65; dischd. 

July 12, '65. (Credited on rolls to Clinton on re-enlistment, on first en- 
listment, to Ashburnham.) 
QuiNN, John, 22. Co. B; w. in second battle of Manassas, Aug. 30, '62; 

dischd. Jan. i, '64, to re-enlist; w. June 2, '64, at Bethesda Church, and 

died June g, '64. 
Stewart, Luther E., 19. Co. G; w. at Antietam, Sept. 17, '62; dischd. 

Jan. I, '64, to re-enlist; w. at Bethesda Church, June 2, '64, and left leg 

amputated in consequence; dischd. Oct. 16, '65. 
Tracy, John, 21. Co. B; w. near Petersburg, June 17, '64; died Jan. 31, 

'65, at Nashville, Tenn. 

Iwettty-second Regiment. 
Date of muster, October 5, 1861. 
Barnes, Warren P., 31. Band; dischd. Aug. 11, '62, with band; re- 
enlisted Nov. 28, '63, in Band Corps D'Affrique, regular army. 
Henry, Eben S., 27. Band; dischd. Feb. 21, '62, for dis. 
Wheeler, John C, 28. Band; dischd. Aug. 11, '62, with band. 
Clark, Thomas, 27. Co. G; m. Sept. 12, '61 ; dischd. Nov. 16, '62, for dis. 
Toole, Austin, 21. Co. G; m. Sept. 13, '61; w. and prisoner Dec. 13, 

'62; transferred to V. R. C. Sept. 26, '63. 

Twenty-third Regiment. 
Date of muster, September 28. 1861. Company H. 
Eaton, William O., 23. Dischd. Aug. 14, '63, for dis. 
Lawrence, Sewell D., 31. Mustered Oct. 5, '61; dischd. Aug. 11, '62, 

for dis. 
Sawyer, Jonathan, 42. Wagoner; dischd. May 9, '62, for dis. (Died 
May 29, '62, in Clinton.) 



TWENTY-FIFTH REGIMENT. 645 

T-wenty-foitrth Regiment. 
Date of muster, September 7, 1861. 
Maloy, Edward, 24. Co. C; re-enlisted Jan. 4, '64; died at home on 
furlough, of consumption, April ig, '64. 

Twenty-fifth Regiment. 
Company G, unless otherwise mentioned. 

Leopold, Wolfgang, 29. Sergt.; m. Sept. 16, '61; dischd. Oct. 20, '64, 

at expr. of service. 
Reischer, Philip, 35. Sergt.; m. Oct. i, '61 ; w. at Cold Harbor in right 

side, June 3, '64; dischd. with regiment Oct. 20, '64. 
Grumbacher, Moritz, 32. Corpl.; m. Oct. 17, '61 ; killed June 3, '64, at 

Cold Harbor, Va. 
KoHULE, Frederick, 22. Corpl.; m.Oct.8,'6i; w. at Cold Harbor, Va., 

June 3, '64; died June 5, '64. 
Stearns, George F., 22. Co. A; corpl.; m. Sept. 16, '61; w. at Cold 

Harbor, June 3, '64; dischd. Oct. 20, '64, at expr. of service. 
Weisser, Frederick, 34. Corpl.; m. Sept. 25, '61; w. at Port Walthal, 

May 6, '64; dischd. Oct. 20, '64, with regiment. 
White, Daniel A., 25. Band; m. Sept. 26, '61; dischd. Aug. 30, '62, with 

band. 
Bowers, Francis A., 18. Co. C; m. Oct. 9, '61; dischd. Oct. 13, '63, for 

dis. Lost right arm at Hill's Point, N. C. 
Brockleman, Bernard, 38. Mustered July 29, '62; w. in leg June 15, 

'64, near Petersburg; dischd. Oct. 20, '64, with regiment. 
Burke, Patrick, 31. Co. E; m. Dec. 14, '63; w. at Arrowfield Church, 

May 9, '64; dischd. May 15, '64. (Credited to Worcester.) 
Champney, Samuel D., 19. Co. D; m. Aug. 7, '62; died in quarantine, 

N. Y. City, Oct. 10, '64, from yellow fever. (Name on rolls as of Graf- 
ton, and enrolled there June, 1863. He enlisted in Clinton by consent 

of his father, and was paid the bounty by this town.) 
Craig, John W., 19. Co. C; m. Sept. 30, '61; dischd. March 12, '63, for 

disability. 
Coulter, John T., 19. Co. A; m. March 8, '62: w. at Drewry's Bluff, 

May 16, '64; dischd. Oct. 20, '64, with regiment. Had previously served 

in Twenty-second N. Y. Vols.; dischd. for dis. 
Ehlert, Ferdinand, 35. Mustered Oct. 2, '61; dischd. March 4, '63, 

for dis, 
Graichen, Edward, 26. Mustered July 29, '62; dischd. Aug. 28, '63, 

for dis. 
Gordon, John, 35. Co. E; m. Sept. 25, '61; dischd. Aug. 6, 62, and died 

at home Sept. 6, '62. 
HoLMAN, Herman, 34. Mustered July 25, '62; left leg amputated at 



646 SOLDIERS' INDIVIDUAL RECORD. 

thigh, result of gun-shot wound received before Petersburg, Va., June 
25, '64; dischd. June 17, '65. 

Klein, Edward, 25. Mustered Oct. 3, '61; w. at Port Walthal, May 6, 
'64; dischd. Oct. 20, '64, at expr. of service. 

Klein, William F., 30. Mustered Oct. 7, '61 ; died Nov. 3, '62, at New- 
bern, N. C. 

Kluessner, Herman, 28. Mustered Oct. 4, '61; dischd. Oct. 20, '64, at 
expr. of service. 

Kochler, Carl, 38. Mustered Oct. 3, '61; dischd. Jan. 18, '64, to re- 
enlist; w. at Port Walthal, May 6, '64; dischd. July 13, '65, at expr. of 
service. 

Lindhardt, Christian, 31. Mustered Oct. 7, '61 ; w. at Roanoke Island 
Feb. 8, '62; dischd. March 15, '63, for dis. 

Linenkemper, Henry, 27. Mustered July 29, '62; w. in back before 
Petersburg, Va., July 12, '64; dischd. Oct. 20, '64, with regiment. 

MoLTER, Henry, 29. Mustered Oct. i, '61; dischd. May 2, '62, for dis. 

MiJLLER, August, 40. Mustered Oct. 3, '61; dischd. May 12, '64, for dis. 

MiJLLER, Franz, 27. Mustered Sept. 25, '61 ; killed May 9, '64, at Arrow- 
field Church. 

MiJLLER, Valentine, 40. Mustered Oct. i, '61 ; dischd. May 31, '63, for 
disability. 

Rauscher, George, 29. Mustered July 215, '62; w. at Arrowfield Church 
May 9, '64; dischd. Oct. 20, '64, at expr. of service. 

Reidle, Albin, 26. Mustered Oct. 3, '61; dischd. March 18, '63, for dis. 

Sawyer, George E., 23. Co. A; m. March 7, '62; dischd. Feb. 24, '64, 
to re-enlist; dischd. July 13, '65, at expr. of service. 

Schusser, Joseph, 40. Mustered Sept. 16, '61 ; w. at Port Walthal, May 
6, '64; prisoner at Cold Harbor, June 3, '64; died Aug. 16, '64, at Ander- 
sonville. 

ScHWAM, Ferdinand, 35. Mustered Oct. 7, '61; w. at Roanoke Island, 
Feb. 8, '62; dischd. Jan. 10, '63, for dis. 

Speisser, Gottfried, 28. Mustered Sept. 25, '61 ; w. in face near Peters- 
burg, June 18, '64; dischd. Oct. 20, '64, with regiment. 

Stearns, Amos E., 28. Co. A; m. Sept. 11, '61; prisoner at Drewry's 
Bluff, May 16, '64. (Name on roll as of Worcester, and enrolled there 
June, 1863.) 

Suss, Michael, 28. Mustered Oct. i,'6i; killed June 18, '64, at Peters- 
burg, Va. 

Vetter, George, 20. Mustered Sept. 16, '61; w. at Roanoke Island, 
Feb. 8, '62; died July g, '62, at Newbern, N. C. 

Wenning, Frederick, 45. Mustered Oct. 3, '61; w. at Petersburg, 
June 15, '64; dischd. Oct. 20, '64, at expr. of service, 



THIRTY FOURTH REGIMENT. 647 

WiESMAN, Bernard, 29. Mustered July 8, '62; dischd. March i, '63, for 

disability. 
Winter, Christian, 35. Mustered Oct. i,'6i; m. out Oct. 20, '64. 
ZiEGLER, Heinrich, 42. Mustered July 25, '62; dischd. Oct. 20, '64, at 

expr. of service. 

Twe7ity- sixth Ree^imeiit. 

Marshall, James, 25. Co. C; m. Oct. 2, '61; missing from Aug-, 4, '63. 
Pease, Henry C, 18. Co. E; m. Oct. 6, '61; transferred Sept. 28, '6^^, to 

Fourteenth Louisiana Vols., colored troops, as second-lieutenant. 
. This became the Eighty-sixth Regt. U. S. Colored Troops, April 4, '64. 

Capt., Sept. 28, '65; m. out April 10, '66, at expr. of service. 

Tivenfy-seventh Regi/ncttf. 

Burgess, John R., 33. Mustered in band of Second New Jersey, May 
22, '61; dischd. Aug. g, '62; re-enlisted in Forty-sixth, Co. B, Oct. 22, 
'62, as from Holyoke; m. out July 29, '63; re-enlisted Oct. 29, '63, in Co. 
B, Twenty-seventh, as from Springfield; captured May 16, '64, at 
Drewry's Bluff; prisoner at Andersonville; died at Annapolis, Md., 
two days after he was exchanged, April 21, '65. 

Childs, Abram, 28. Co. I; m. Sept. 20, '61, as from Palmer; sergt.: 
dischd. and re-enlisted Dec. 24, '63; was a prisoner; second-lieut., m. 
May 15, '65, as of Clinton; dischd. June 26, '65, at expr. of service. 

Twenty-eighth Regiment. 

Head, James, 23. Co. G; m. Dec. 30, '61; dischd. April, '6s, at expr. of 
service. 

Thirtieth Regiment. 

.Donovan, John, 21. Co. A; m. Oct. i, '61.; died at Baton Rouge, La., 
Oct. 12, '63. 

Thirty-first Regiment. 

Schleiter, Diedrich, 26. Co. H: m. Jan. 21, '62; re-enlisted Feb. 17, 
'64; dischd. Sept. 9, '65, at expr. of service as of Co. D. (Name on 
rolls as Diedrich Slader.) 

Thirty-foii7-th Regiment. 

Bowman, Henry. Major. (See Fifteenth.) 

Cutler, Charles B., 25. Sergeant-major, Aug. 11, '62; second-lieut. 
March 18, '64; first-lieut. May i, '65; m. out June 16, '65. (Credited to 
Worcester and not claimed by Clinton authorities, though a resident.) 

Fuller, Edward M., 20. Co. F; m. Aug. 9, '62; corpl.; sergt.; trans- 
ferred March 21, '64, to Thirty-ninth U. S. Colored Troops as captain; 
June I, '65, major; w. at Petersburg, July 30, '64; m. out Dec, '65. (Re- 



648 SOLDIERS' INDIVIDUAL RECORD. 

ceived bounty from Clinton. Claimed by Lancaster. Credited to 
Clinton by state.) 

Gallagher, Thomas, 34. Co. H; m. Dec. 8, '63; w. and prisoner at 
Stickney Farm, Oct. 13, '64; confined in Richmond; exchanged in 
April, '65; transferred to Twenty-fourth, Co. G, June 14, '65; corpL; 
sergt.; m. out Jan. 10, '66. 

FiTTS, William E., 25. Co. C; m. July 13, '62; corpl.; died May 14, '65, 
at Sterling; prisoner at Andersonville and Florence; died from effects 
of starvation in prison. (Credited to Sterling and not claimed by Clin- 
ton authorities, though a resident.) 

Needham, James A., 19. Co. B; m. Aug. i, '62; corpl; w. June 5, '64, at 
Piedmont, Va., ball through calf of leg; w. near Strasburg, Va., Oct. 13, 
'64, reported killed, was taken prisoner and escaped from hospital; 
dischd. April 17, '6^. 

Thurman, Charles H., 20. Co. D; m. July 31, '62; bugler; dischd. June 
16, '65, at expr. of service. 

Bell.vJohn, 32. Co. A; m. July 13, '62; w. June 18, '64, at Lynchburg, 
Va., dischd. June 16, '65, at expr. of service. 

Bryson, William, 35. Co. A; m. July 13, '62; dischd. June 16, '65, at 
expr. of service. 

Burns, Thomas J., ig. Co. B; m. Aug. i, '62; died June 10, '64, at Pied- 
mont, Va., of wounds. 

Gibbons, Patrick, 24. Co. B; m. Dec. 7, '63; transferred June 14, '65, 
to Co. A, Twenty-fourth: m. out Jan. 20, '66. 

Handley, John, ig. Co. B; m. Aug. i, '62; dischd. June 16, '65, at expr. 
of service. 

HiGGiNS, Timothy, 30. Co. B; m. Aug. i,'62; dischd. Jan. 16, '63; re- 
enlisted, and m. Jan. 4, '64, Fifty-seventh, Co. A; w. near Spottsylvania, 
May 12, '64; transferred to 76th Co. Second Battalion V. R. C; dischd. 
from V. R. C, Feb. 25, '65. 

HOLBROOK, John W., 36. Co. A; m. July 31, '62; killed April 6, '65; ac- 
cording to another account, prisoner in Northern Virginia, and died in 
hospital. 

Maloy, Patrick, 18. Co. B; m. Aug. i, '62; dischd. June 16, '65, at 
expr. of service. 

Maloy, Thomas, 24. Co. B; m. Dec. 11, '63; transferred June 14, '65, to 
Co. A, Twenty-fourth; m. out Jan. 20, '66. (See Twenty-first.) 

Messier, Enos, 27. Co. H; m. Dec. 11, '63; taken prisoner in Lynch- 
burg retreat; died Sept. 23, '64, at Andersonville, Ga. 

Pratt, George, 18. Co. G; m. Jan. 4, '64; transferred June 14, '65, to 
Co. G, Twenty-fourth; m. out Jan. 20, '66. 

Pratt, Orin, 18. Co. B; m. Dec. 11, '63; transferred June 14, '65, to Co. 
A, Twenty-fourth; m. out Jan. 2, '66. (See Fifty-third.) 



THIRTY-SIXTH REGIMENT. 649 

Turner, Horatio E., 18. Co. F; m. Aug. 2, '62; died in prison at An- 
dersonville, Ga., Sept. 8, '64, having been taken prisoner, after being 
w. at New Market, Va., May 15, '64. (Editor Courant, home in Lan- 
caster, credited by state to Clinton, where he received bounty.) 

Thirty-sixth Regiment. 
Company G, unless otherwise stated. 

Bowman, Henry. Colonel. (See Fifteenth.) 

Davidson, Alonzo S.,22. Mustered as sergt. Aug. 11, '62; second-lieut. 
Aug. 2, '63, (not m.); sergt.-major Oct. 15, '63; first-Iieut. April 24, '64; 
captain June 23, '64; m. out June 8, '65. 

Field, Lucius, 22. Mustered Aug. 18, '62; commissary-sergt. Oct. 15, 
'63: quartermaster-sergt. Feb. 19, '64; second-lieut. Nov. i, '64; first- 
lieut. Nov. 13, '64, (not m.); acting quartermaster Nov. 16, '63, to Jan. 
2, '64, and July i, '64, to close of war; m. out June 8, '65. 

Olcott, Hiram W., 21. Mustered Aug. 3, '62; corpl.; sergt.; acting 
sergt.-major from June 3, '64, to June 18, '64; w. at Petersburg June 18, 
'64; first-lieut. June 19, '64; not able to muster on account of wounds; 
dischd. for dis. Dec. 23, '64. 

Robinson, Henry S., 31. Mustered Aug. 22, '62; second-lieut.; first- 
lieut. Jan. 30, '63; w. in head at Blue Springs, Oct. 10, '63; dischd. July 

7. '64, for dis. (See Navy.) 

Wright, Daniel, 30. Co. F; m. Aug. 6, '62; corpl.; sergt.; second- 
lieut. Sept. I, '63, (not m.); first-lieut. April 23, '64; w. and prisoner in 
Wilderness, May 6, '64; confined at Lynchburg, Va., Salisbury, N. C, 
Andersonville, Ga., Florence, S. C; paroled Dec. 17, '64; exchanged 
March 29, '615; commanded Co. F to close of war; m. out June 8, '65. 

Flagg, Frederick, 40. Mustered Aug. 8, '62; corpl.; sergt.; dischd. 
Dec. 23, '64, for dis. 

BoYNTON, Alonzo P., 40. Mustered Aug. 11, '62; corpl; dischd. Oct. 
28, '63, for dis. 

DoRRisoN, Oscar A., 20. Mustered Aug. 12, '62; corpl.; dischd. Dec. 
23, '64, for dis. 

Fisher, Abial, 18. Mustered Aug. 18, '62; corpl.; w. near Petersburg, 
June 22, '64; dischd. Dec. 23, '64, for dis. 

Hastings, William A., 20. Mustered Aug. 5, '62; corpl.; dischd. June 

8, '65, at expr. of service. 

Perry, George W., 40. Mustered Aug. 10, '62; corpl.; died of fever 
at Warrenton, Va., Nov. 13, '62. 

Smith, James, 34. Co. F; m. Aug. 7, '62; corpl.; w. at Jackson, Missis- 
sippi, July II, '63; dischd. June 8, '65, at expr. of service. 

Houghton, Nathaniel T., 18. Co. I; m. Aug. 8, '62; drummer; dischd. 
June 8, '65, at expr. of service. 

Bemis, Daniel H., 30. Mustered Aug. 8, '62; dischd. Nov. 9, '63, for dig, 
45 



650 SOLDIERS' INDIVIDUAL RECORD. 

Burns, Martin F., 25. Mustered Aug. 20, '62; did not leave Worcester 
with the regiment. 

Chenery, Frank A., 23. Mustered Aug. ii,'62; killed at Cold Harbor, 
Va., June 3, '64. 

Davidson, Lucius D., 18. Mustered Dec. 26, '63; died March 28, '64, of 
fever, at Covington, Ky. (Credited to Sterling and not claimed by 
Clinton authorities.) 

EccLES, Roger, 39. Co. F; m. Aug. 6, '62; prisoner Oct. 2, '64, near 
Petersburg, Va., beaten by fellow prisoners at Salisbury, N. C, Nov. 29, 
'64, so severely that he died in hospital on Jan. g, '65. 

Fay, John, 22. Mustered Aug. 14, '62; dischd. June 8, '65, at expr. of 
service. 

Flagg, Frederick E., 18. Mustered Aug. 8, '62; prisoner near Knox- 
ville, Tenn., Dec. 15, '63; died at Belle Isle, Richmond, Va., March, 
1864. 

GiFFORD, Henry A., 41. Mustered Aug. 8, '62; dischd. June 8, '65, at 
expr. of service. 

Hastings, Lyman H., 21. Mustered Aug. 6, '62; died of fever at Fal- 
mouth, Va., Jan. 16, '63. 

Howe, Charles H., 18. Co. I; m.Aug. 15, '62; prisoner near Rutledge, 
Tenn., Dec. 15, '63, and died at Andersonville, Ga., Aug. 27, '64. 

Jewett, George H., 24. Mustered Aug. 14, '62; dischd. Feb. 28, '63, for 
dis; drafted from Worcester, July 11, '63; 2d Co. Andrew's Sharp- 
shooters attached to Twenty-second: served until July 3, '64, when he 
was dischd., as his being drafted was declared illegal. 

Kelley, John, 26. 

Martin, Michael, 25. Mustered Aug. 6, '62; w. in Wilderness, May 
'6, '64; dischd. June 8, '65, at expr. of service. 

McGee, Patrick, 36. Mustered Aug. 13, '62; dischd. Feb. 13, '63, for 
disability. 

McGrath, Henry, 25. Mustered Aug. 13, '62; died of disease Oct. 10, 
'63, at Crab Orchard, Ky. 

Miner, Dwight, 18. Mustered Aug. i,'62; transferred to V. R. Corps, 
March 19, '64. 

Morgan, James A., 20. Mustered Aug. 14, '62; on special duty at divis- 
ion headquarters; dischd. June 8, '65, at expr. of service. 

Palmer, Edward, 19. Mustered Aug. 6, '62; dischd. June 28, '65, at 
expr. of service. 

Fifty-seventh Regimetit. 

Bowman, Samuel M. (See Fifty-first.) 

Darling, William H., 18. Co. A; musician; m. Jan. 4, '64; m. out 
Aug. 8, '65. 

HiGGiNS, Timothy. (See Thirty-fourth.) 



NINE MONTHS REGIMENTS. 65 1 

Regular Ar7ny. 

Gushing, Henry P., 18. Mustered March 31, '65; engineer corps; 
dischd. Dec. 20, '65. 

See re-enlistments in different regiments for other members of reg- 
ular army. 

Sixty -first Regiment, — One Year. 

Hurley, G. Thomas, Jr., 18. Mustered Jan. 23, '65; dischd. from Augur 
Hospital, June 25, '65. 

Fifth Regiment. — Nine Months. 

Smith, Augustus E., 18. Co. I; m. Sept. 16, '62; m. out July 2, '63; re- 
enlisted Dec. 24, '63, in Second Heavy Artillery, Co. M; dischd. Sept. 
3, '65, at expr. of service. (Credited to Marlboro.) (See Second Heavy 
Artillery.) 

Smith, George W., 18. Co. I; m. Sept. 16, '62; m. out July 2, '63; re- 
enlisted Dec. 24, '63, in Second Heavy Artillery, Co. M; dischd Sept. 
3, '65, at expr. of service. (Credited to Marlboro.) (See Second Heavy 
Artillery.) 

Fifty-first Regitnent. — Nine Months. 

Bowman, Samuel M., 25. Co. A; sergt.; m. Sept. 25, '62; dischd. July 

27, '63, at expr. of service; re-enlisted Dec, '63, in Co. A, Fifty-seventh; 

first-Iieut.; mortally w. by shell before Petersburg, Va., and died July 

26, '64. 
Harris, Charles B.. 19. Mustered Sept. 25, '62; dischd. July 27, '63, at 

expr. of service. 

Fifty-third Regiment. — Nine Months. 

Date of muster, October 18, 1862. Company I, unless otherwise stated. 

[November 11, 1862, these men were transferred — 24 to Marlboro, 3 
to Shirley, and 2 to Northboro quotas — on payment of bounties, for Clin- 
ton had men in excess of quota. When the state reimbursed the money 
paid for bounties, these were again credited to Clinton.] 

Vose,Josiah H., 32. Second-lieut. Oct. 18; first-lieut. Dec. 15, '62; w. at 

Port Hudson, June 14, '63, and died at Springfield Landing, Louisiana, 

June 17, '63. 
Freeman, William T., 33. Sergt.; second-lieut. Dec. 15, '62; resigned 

March 26, '63. 
Carter, Alpheus H., 27. Sergt.; dischd. Sept. 2, '63, at expr. of service. 
Orr, William, Jr., 25. Sergt.; dischd. Sept. 2, '63, at expr. of service. 
Moore, Charles W., 32. Corpl.; sergt.; w, at Port Hudson, June 14, 

6^; dischd. Sept. 2, '63, at expr. of service, 



652 



SOLDIERS' INDIVIDUAL RECORD. 



BuRDETT, Charles C, 18. Corpl.; dischd. Sept. 2, '63, atexpr. of service. 

Carter, Charles W., 19. Co. A; m. Oct. 30, '62; drummer; dischd. 
Sept. 2, '63, at expr. of service. 

Vint, Joseph A., 18. Drummer; dischd. Sept. 2, '63, at expr. of service. 

Bannon, Patrick, 32. Dischd. June 29, '63, for dis. 

Belcher, Thomas W., 36. Wounded at Port Hudson, June 14, '63; 
dischd. Sept. 2, '63, at expr. of service. 

Brockleman, Christopher, 36. Dischd. Sept. 2, '63, expr. of service. 

COYLE, Patrick, 33. Wounded at Port Hudson, June 14, '63; dischd. 
Sept. 2, '63, at expr. of service. 

Edeman. Bernard J., 18. Dischd. Sept. 2, '63, at expr. of service; re- 
enlisted Dec. 24, '63, in Second Heavy Artillery, Co. M; dischd. Sept. 
3. '65, at expr. of service. 

Fuller, John, 28. Dischd. Sept. 2, '63, at expr. of service. 

Harrington, Edward F., 20. Co. K; m. Oct. 17, '62; dischd. Sept. 2, 
'63, at expr. of service. 

Hoffman, Charles, 32. Wounded at Port Hudson, May 27, '63; dischd. 
Sept. 2, '63, at expr. of service. 

Holder, William P., 44. Dischd. for dis. Nov. 5, '62. 

Kenney, Thomas, 18. Dischd. Sept. 2, '63, at expr. of service; re- 
enlisted Feb. 10, '64, in Twenty-first, which see. 

Kidder, William H., 23. Left company in New York, Dec. 7, '62; pos- 
sibly murdered. 

Lammlein, Carl, 40. Dischd. Sept. 2, '63, at expr. of service. 

Ogden. Thomas, 40. Dischd. Sept, 2, '63, at expr. of service. 

Orr, Robert, 27. Wounded at Port Hudson, June 14, '63; dischd. Sept, 
2, '63, at expr. of service. 

Owens, Patrick, 39. Wounded at Port Hudson, June 14, '63; dischd. 
Sept. 2, '63, at expr. of service. 

Pratt, Orin, 18. Dischd. Sept. 2, '63, at expr. of service; re-enlisted 
Dec. II, '63, in Thirty-fourth, which see. 

Reid, Thomas W., 19. Wounded at Port Hudson, May 27 and June 14, 
'63; dischd. Sept. 2, '63, at expr. of service. Died June, '65, hemorrhage 
of lungs. 

Roberts, Thomas, 28. Killed at Port Hudson, June 14, '63. 

Stauss, Lewis, 28. Missing June 16, '63. 

Thurman, Charles H., 42. Killed at Fort Bisland, April 13, '63. 

Waters, John A., 37. Dischd. Sept. 2. '63, at expr. of service. 

Whitney, Horace, Jr., 20. Co. K; m. Oct. 28, '62; dischd. Dec, '62. 
Zimmerman, John, 37. Dischd. Sept. 2, '63, at expr. of service. 

Third Battalion Riflenieii. — Three Mo7iths. 
McNuLTY, James, 23. Mustered April 19, '61; dischd. Aug. 3, '61, expr. 
of service. 



HEAVY ARTILLERY REGIMENTS. 653 

Forty-second Regiment. — One Hundred Days. 
RosMAN, George, 25. Co. E; m. July 22, '64; m. out Nov. 11, '64. 

Sixtieth Regiment. — One Hundred Days. 

Date of muster, July 20, 1864, Company F.~'Discharged November 30, 1S64, at Expiration 
of Service) unless otherwise stated. Z'^'ji 

Bartlett, Ezra^K., age ig., died Oct. 10, '64. at Indianapolis, Ind.,'of 
typhoid fever;"^ Bowers, Henry W., 19; Grossman, Willis A., 27; 
Gushing, John E., 18; Dixon, Edward, 18; Sawyer, George E., 20; 
Stone, Louis L., ig; Waters, Horace H., 22; Wood, John, corpl., 20. 

Second Regiment Heajiy Artillery. 

Date of muster, December 24,'iS63, Company^M, and discharged at expiration of service, 
unless otherwise stated. 

Sargent, Henry B., ig. Gorpl.; sergt.; dischd. Sept. 3, '65. (See Fif- 
teenth Infty.) 

Amsden, Marcus E., 21. Co. B; m. July 28, 63; assigned to Co. C, Sec- 
ond U. S. Reg. Heavy Artillery, in '64; May 17, '64, dischd. to re- 
enlist in navy; did duty in ship Mercidita; dischd. Dec. 27, '64. 

Bugle, George M., 21, Co. C; m. Aug. 4, '63; dischd. May 2g,65, for 
disabiUty. 

Carruth, John E., 21. Mustered Dec. 28, '65; dischd. Sept. 3, '65. (See 
Fifteenth Infty.) 

Edeman, Bernard J., 18. Dischd. Sept. 3, '65. (See Fifty-third Infty.) 

Graichen, Frank, 29. Dischd. Sept, 3, '65. (See Fifteenth Infty.) 

Lowrie, William, 18. Dischd. Sept. 3, '65. 

Palmer, George W., ig. Dischd. June 21, '65, for dis. 

Sargent, George E., 18. Dischd. May 26, '65,' for dis. 

Sargent, Renzo B., 18. Mustered Aug. 17, '64; transferred Jan. 16, '65, 
to Co. G, Seventeenth Infty.; m. out Julv 11, '65. 

Smith, Augustus E., 18. Dischd. Sept. 3, '65. (See Fifth Infty.) 

Smith, George W., ig. Dischd. Sept. 3, '65.' (See Fifth'Infty.) 

Wilder, Sanford B., 24. Dischd. Dec. 3, '65. 

Third Regijuent Heavy Artillery. 

King, W. R., ig. Co. E; m.'Aug. 27, '63; sergt.; dischd. Sept. 18, '65, at 

expr. of service. 
Ball, James, 26. Co. F; m. Sept. 16, '63; dischd. May 8, '65, for dis. 
Houghton, Warren, 32. Co. E; m. Aug. 27, '63; dischd. April 6, '65, 

for dis. 
Welsh, Michael. 18. Co. F; m. Sept. 16, '63; dischd. Sept. 18, '65, at 

expr. of service. 



654 SOLDIERS' INDIVIDUAL RECORD. 

First Regiment Cavalry. 

Cromett, Hiram A., 35. Co. C: corpl. ; m. Sept. 17, '61 ; dischd. Dec. 

31, '63, to re-enlist; re-enlisted Jan. i, '64; dischd. June 29, '65, at expr. 

of service. 
Houghton, Augustine F., 38. Co. D; m. Oct. 19, '61 ; m. out Oct. 3, 

'64, as absent sick. 
Howard, Franklin, 43. Co. C; m. Sept. 23, '61 ; dischd. Feb. 17, '63 

for dis. 

Third Regiment Cavalry. 
Date of muster, January 5, 1864. 

Holder, Francis T., 30. Co. B; first sergt. ; dischd. Aug. 10, '65, at 
expr. of service. 

King, Robert, 45. Co. B ; corpl. ; w. in right leg at Opequan, Va., Sept. 
19, '64; dischd. Sept. 28, '65, at expr. of service. 

LovELL, Francis, 24. Co. B; corpl.; taken prisoner and died at Salis- 
bury, N. C, Feb. 21, '65, of chronic diarrhoea on the very day he was to 
have been exchanged. (War Dept. says at Andersonville, Jan. 16, '65.) 

Barnes, James F., 27. Co. B; dischd. Dec. 28, '65, at expr. of service. 

Callahan, Thomas, 36. Co. H ; captured near Alexandria, on picket 
duty, but recaptured when being taken to rear; dischd. May 26, 65. 

Davenport, Benjamin F., 25. Co. B; killed at Opequan, Va., Sept. 
19, '64. 

Gately, John, 2j. Co. H ; killed at Opequan, Va., Sept. 19, '64. 

Hall, Joseph, 20. Co. B; died at Morganza Bend, La., June 19, '64. 

Hartwell, Charles H., 32. Co. B; dischd. Oct. 26, '64, for dis. 

Healey, Martin, 28, Co. H ; dischd. June 27, '65, at expr. of service. 

Howard, George O., 18. Co. B; w. in right shoulder at Opequan, Va., 
Sept. 19, '64; dischd. July 5, '65. 

Fourth Regimeftt Cavalry. 

Date of muster, January 6, 1864, Company C, and discharged at expiration of service, 
unless otherwise stated. 

GoDDARD, Artemas W., 21. sergt. ; chief bugler; dischd. Nov. 14, '65. 

Larkin, Alfred G., 21. Corpl.; sergt.; dischd. Nov. 14. '65. 

Ball, Henry F., 24. Mustered Dec. 31. '63; corpl.; sergt. Feb. i, '64; 

hospital steward; dischd. Nov. 14, '65. (Claimed by Lancaster, but 

credited to Clinton by state.) 
Brown, Herbert J., 19. Dischd. Nov. 14, '65. 
Chipman, Edward S., 39. Company blacksmith; dischd. Nov. 14, '65. 

(Was a veteran at time of enlistment.) 
Converse, William W., 27. Co. H; m. Feb. i8,'64; dischd. Nov. 14, '65. 
Conway, Francis, 41. Dischd. Nov. 14, '65. 



NAVY. 655 

Gibbons, John, 33. Died at Richmond, Va., July 16, '65, by violence. 

Grady, Patrick, 30. Dischd. Nov. 14, '65. 

Nicholas, George S., 39. Co. G ; m. Jan. 27, '64 ; served as a musician 

but did not enlist as one ; dischd. Nov. 14, '65. 
Tracy, Patrick. 27. Dischd. Nov. 14, '65. 
Ward, James H., 45. Dischd. Oct. 20, '65. 
vVellington, Levi, 27. Co. F; m. June 27, '64; dischd. June i, '65. 

FiftJi Regiment Cavalry. 
Benjamin, Lewis, 25. Co. C; m. May 16, '64; missing from Aug. i, '65. 



NAVY. 

Most of the men whose names are enrolled here were 
never citizens of Clinton. Our town, like other towns of 
Massachusetts, received its proportionate credit for men who 
entered service on the "Ohio" and other receiving ships sta- 
tioned in the harbors of the state. If these men should 
become incapable of self-support before they secure a legal 
residence elsewhere, Clinton would be responsible for their 
maintenance on account of this service. The proportion of 
our town was forty-one years' service, or twenty-two men 
with terms varying from one to three years. The names of 
these are starred. In addition to these, there are eight oth- 
ers entered on this list, either because they were citizens of 
Clinton or claimed on our quota by town authorities : 

Amsden, Marcus E. Entered service May 17, '64; served on the ship 
" Mercidita;" dischd. Dec. 27, '64. (See Second Heavy Artillery.) 

Carrigan* (or Garrigan), John, 25. Entered service at Boston on the 
"North Carolina," July 3, '61, for three years ; boatswain's mate ; served, 
on the "Montgomery" and "Potomac ;" dischd. at expr. of service. 
(No residence given except Ireland.) 

Freeman, John W., 38. Entered service for one year, Feb. 26, '63; 
seaman; ship "Mercidita:" dischd. Feb. i, '64, from w. in leg received 
off Wilmington, N. C, Nov. 7, '63. (Credited to Boston.) 

Gardner,* Frederic. Credited three years' service. Record lost. 

Gibson,* James, 22. Entered service at Boston, July 3, '61, on "North 
Carolina," for two years; ordinary seaman ; served on "Pensacola;" 
dischd. Aug. 5, '63, from Receiving Ship "Ohio," at expr. of service. 
Residence, Scotland. 



656 



SOLDIERS' INDIVIDUAL RECORD. 



Goodman,* Edwin M., 31. Entered service at Boston, June 25, '61, on 
"Marion," for two years : ship's cook; served on the "Cuyler;" dischd. 
from "Cuyler" July 31, '63, expr. of service. Residence, Philadelphia. 

Gorman,* James, 22. Entered service at New Bedford, June 22, '61, on 
"North Carolina," for two years ; ordinary seaman ; served on "Poto- 
mac ;" dischd. from "Princeton," July 28, '64. Residence, Ireland. 

Graham,* John, 22. Entered service at Boston, July 3, '61, on "North 
Carolina," for two years; seaman; served on "Minnesota;" dischd, 
from "Minnesota," July 2, '63, expr. of service. Residence, Bangor, 
Maine. 

Gray,* Nathaniel, 20. Entered service at Boston July 8, '61, on "Vin- 
cennes," for three years; landsman; served on "Potomac;" dischd, 
from "Potomac," Sept. 30, '64. 

Green,* John, 22. Entered service at Boston, July 6, '61, on "North 
Carolina," for two years; ordinary seaman ; served on "Pensacola;" 
dischd. from "Ohio," Aug. 5, '63. Residence, New York City. 

Green,* Lewis, 21. Entered service June 27, '61, at Boston, on "Dale," 
for three years; landsman; deserted from "Dale," Oct. 25, '62. 

Lakin, David, 26. Entered service Aug. 26, '62 ; served on the "Schach- 
ahan;" promoted to master's mate. (Claimed by town. No such 
name on Massachusetts rolls. No boat of this name has been dis- 
covered.) 

Mackerell, Alexander, 22. Entered service at Boston on "Ohio," 
for one years; landsman; served on "North Carolina," "Isaac Smith" 
and in "Potomac Flotilla;" dischd. Aug. 17, '63. (This is the only case 
in the navy records of direct credit to Clinton on the ground of resi- 
dence, according to rolls.) 

McNabb, John, ig. Entered service Aug. 15, '62; landsman; steam 
sloops "Juaniata," "Sonoma" and "Sabine ;" dischd. July 27, '63, by rea- 
son of having volunteered to go in pursuit of the "Tacony." Residence, 
Scotland ; credited to Newton. 

Maley, John, 25. Entered service May 23, '61 ; landsman; "Wabash." 

Murphy,* Thomas, 24. Entered service at New Bedford, on "Ohio," 
Oct. 14, '62, for two years ; landsman ; served on "Huron" and "Prince- 
ton;" dischd. Oct. 26, '63. Residence, Ireland. 

Powell,* James Jr., 17. Entered service at New Bedford on "Ohio," 
Oct. 22, '62, for two years; landsman; served on "Colorado," "East- 
port," "Fort Hindman" and "Great Western;" dischd. Oct. 30, '64, 
Dec, 28, '64, he enlisted in South Scituate, in First Battalion Cavalry, 
for one year. He served until June 30, '65, on the frontier. Residence, 
England. 

Radford,* William, 26. Entered service at Boston, Oct. 6, '62, for one 
year. Served on "Ossipee." Residence, Sweden, 



ENLISTED IN OTHER STATES. 657 

Reed,* Frederiqk, 21. Entered service on "Lancaster," Sept. 19, '62, 
for one year; landsman; served on"Cyane;" dischd. from "Savan- 
nah," June 8, '64, expr. of service. Residence, Abington, Me. 

Reynolds,* Michael J., 21. Entered service at New Bedford, Oct. 7, 
'62, for one year; landsman; served on "Colorado;" deserted from 
"Colorado" Feb. 6, '63. Residence, Ireland. 

Richard,* Albert, 18. Entered service at New Bedford, Sept. 20, '62, 
for one year; landsman; served on "Lancaster;" dischd. from "Lan- 
caster," Sept. 22, '63, expr. of service. Residence, Kennebunk, Me. 

Rider,* Franklin, 23. Entered service at Boston, Oct. 2, '62, for one 
year; seaman; served on "Sabine." Residence, Bucksport, Me. 

Riley,* Timothy, 24. Entered service at Boston, Oct. 10, '62, on "Col- 
orado," for one year; landsman; served on "Colorado;" dischd. Feb. 
10, '64. Residence, Ireland. 

Ripley,* Winifred S., 23. Entered service at Boston, Sept. 24, '62; 
landsman ; dischd. Sept. 24, '63, expr, of service. Residence, Paris, Me, 

Robinson, Henry S. Entered service Sept. 17, '61, on ship "Flag:" 3d 
asst. engineer; dischd. May 22, '62. (See 36th Regt.) 

Robinson,* Thomas, 28. Entered service at Boston, Oct. 13, '62, for one 
year; seaman; deserted from "Colorado," Jan. 20, '63. Residence, 
Scotland. 

Rogers,* Christopher, 21. Entered service at Boston, Sept. 24, '62, 
on "Ohio," for one year; taken by virit of habeas corpus, Sept. 27,'62; 
landsman. Residence, Pawtucket, R. I. 

RosMAS,* Charles, 21. Entered service at Boston, Sept. 25, '62, on 
"Sabine," for one year; served on "Sumpter." Residence, Germany. 

Roye,* George, 23. Entered service at Boston, Oct. 3, '62, for one 
year; seaman; served on "Ossipee" and "Pensacola;" dischd. May 10, 
'64, at expr. of service. Residence, Isle of Malta. 

Sibley, John, 25. Enteredservice Aug. 2i,'62; landsman; steam sloop 
"Juaniata;" dischd. Dec. 4, '63, end of time of enlistment. 



ENLISTED IN OTHER STATES, AND CLAIMED BY CLINTON. 

Seventh U. S., Co. I. — William H. Craig, age 22. 

Second New Hampshire, Co. E. — Edward C. Craig; w. at Antietam; 
dischd. and re-enlisted in V. R. C. (No such name on N. H. rolls.) — 
Paul C. Morgan, age 18; m. Sept. 2, 61 ; lost right arm at Bull Run, 
Aug. 2g, '62, and dischd. Nov. 10, '62 ; enlisted in Second Battalion 
InvaHd Corps, July 14, '63, and dischd. Jan. 22, '64. 

Seventh New Hampshire, Co. A. — John Hoban, 26: m. Oct. 29, '61; w. 
at Fort Wagner, S. C, July 18, '63; re-enlisted Feb. 27, '64; died Nov. 
12, '64. 



658 SOLDIERS' INDIVIDUAL RECORD. 

Seventh New Hampshire, 2d Co. Sharpshooters. — Charles R. Brooks. 
(No such name given in New Hampshire rolls.) 

Fifth Maine, Co. C. — John Ellam, age 40; m. April 9, '62; dischd. 
Sept. 10, '62. 

Second Cottnecticut, Co. A. — John Kelly, age 22. 

Forty-second New York. — James Finnessy, age 21; m. Aug. 9, '61 ; Co. 
K ; sergt. ; transferred to Fifty-ninth N. Y. ; disched. Aug, 5, '64, at 
expr. of service; died in Indianapolis of typhoid fever, Oct. 10, '64. — 
James Boyce, Co. H. Maximillian Long, Co. H. Thomas Mad- 
den, Co. H. John Madden, Co. H. 

Ninety-ninth Petmsylvatiia. — John Burk, age 41 ; m. July 26, '61 ; dischd. 
May, '62. 

Tenth Illinois Cavalry, Co. D. — Matthew Burns, age 19; m. Nov. 25, 
'61 ; sergt.; killed at Richmond, Louisiana, June 15, '62. 



Residents of Clinton enlisted in other states and not 
claimed by the town: 

Cameron, Angus, 26. "Co. F, Eighty-third New York; m. May 27, '61; 
second-lieut.; first-lieut.; capt. Jan. 27, '62; w. at Fredericksburg; 
dischd. for dis., April 23, '63," town record states. (The New York 
World says: "He was a member of the Ninth Regiment, N. Y. S. M., 
and went into the field with it. From a minor officer he became 
captain of Company I, and on the disastrous field of Fredericksburg 
commanded the left of his regiment as acting lieutenant-colonel. He 
was here desperately wounded in the left thigh, and being long in- 
capacitated for active duty, was mustered out of the service. On his 
convalesence, he was made lieutenant-colonel of the Eighty-fourth 
N. Y. S. M., and again saw service in Maryland. Disappointed in 
getting a commission in the regular army, he accepted a position in 
the Marine Corps, and in that capacity accompanied Admiral Farra- 
gut's great squadron in its visit to European ports. * * * Mr. Cameron 
was a gentleman of varied talents. * * * He was a speaker of much 
ability.") 

Cushing, Charles C. Navy; record not found. 

Davis, Frank L. Taken sick soon after enlisting, and died March 11, 
'65; record not found. Rev. C. M. Bowers states: "He enlisted in the 
Twenty-fourth N. Y. Ciivalry. 

Flagg, William E. Rev. C. M. Bowers states: " Enlisted Sept., '64, in 
the Fourteenth Connecticut Regiment, for three years; taken sick at 
New Haven; came home, and died of lung disease May 29, '65, aged 
17." Connecticut record states: "William B. Flagg, credited to 



DRAFTED MEN. 



659 



Woodstock, Ct.; enlisted March 29, '64; dischd. May 5, 05, for dis.; 
Co. B." 



Davidson, Charles L. This name appears on the Clinton Soldiers' 
Monument, but he never enlisted. He served, however, as a clerk in 
the Quartermaster's Department. He died at Nashville, Tennessee, 
Nov. 22, '64. 



List of men drafted who paid commutation fees, which 
were accepted as the equivalent of service: 



Frederick A. Atherton. John R. Foster. 



Joseph F. Bartlett. 
John N. W. Brown. 
William F. Buttrick. 
George H. Cutting. 
Alfred Dawes. 



Eben S. Fuller. 

Sidney T. Fuller. 

Henry C. Greeley. 

Junius D. Hayes. 

Samuel H. Hosmer. George C. Wilder. 



Frank M. Loring. 

George W. Lowe. 

Herman A. Marshall. 

Cornelius Murphy. 

George W. Weeks. 



In the Town Report for the year ending March i, 1863, 
there is an account of town bounties paid to John Munroe, 
Joseph McGeache)' — one hundred dollars each. In the Re- 
port for the year ending February i, 1865, there is an 
account of a bounty of one hundred and twenty-five dollars 
paid to Thomas Maloney. The name of Victor Cencer ap- 
pears in a list of aliens serving for Clinton. No other record 
of these four men has been found. C. L. Swan put in service 
one soldier, Joseph Matthews, Fourteenth U. S. Colored 
Infantry. 

Clinton may have received credit for a few men who had 
enlisted in the Regular Army before the war began. 



INDEX OF PERSONS.* 



A BBOTT, Mary J.,J04. 
^ ABERCROMBIE, Gen. 

Joseph, go. 
ADAGUNAPEKE 49. 
ADAMS, Anna Gertrude 
(Pollard), 137. 
George, 3S, 69. 
Rev. Henry, 446, 451. 
AINSWORTH. Rev. C. W., 

481. 
ALBERT, Daniel, 79,97, 129- 
Daniel, Jr., 91, 129. 
Family, 80, 129. 
Frederick, 91, 100, 129. 
ALDEN, Col. Ichabod, 98. 
ALDRICH, Daniel, 109, 124, 

159, 160. 

ALEXANDER, Josiah, 285, 

387, 402, 406, 408, 571, 572. 

ALLEN, Abel, 74, 95, 96, 97, 

103, 465. 

Amos, 74, 97, 104, 105, 106, 

log, 164. 
Daniel, 73, g8. 
Ebenezer, ist, 73-74. 
Ebenezer, 2d, 74, 76, 93, 94, 
95, 100, loi, 103, 104, 105, 
107, 140, 179. 
Ebenezer, or Eben, 3d, 74, 
^,95, 96, 97- 

Elisha, 74, 95, 97,98, 100. 
Family, 76, 81, 83, 92, 102. 
Genealogy, 73-74. 
"Goodman," 52. 
Jacob, 98. 
}.J.,4i8. 
John, 73. 
Mary, dr. E. A., 2d, 74, 80, 

126. 
Rev. T. P., 4q6. 
Samuel, 74, 98, 104, 105, 186, 

187. 
Sarah, 74. 
Tabitha, dr. Ebenezer, 2d, 

74, 104- 
Tabitha, wife of E. A., 2d, 

74, 104. 
Thankful, 74. 



AMHERST,Gen. Jeffrey,9i, 

129. 
AMGRY, James S., 203, 227. 

William, 203. 
AMSDEN, E. H., 386, 397. 
Marcus E. (2d H. Art. and 
Navy), 653,655. 
ANDRE. Gen. John, no. 
ANDREW, Gov. John A., 
380, 424, 540, 542, 560, 564, 
575, 580. 
ANDREWS, Pres. E. Ben- 
jamin, 135. 
Edwin. 247, 460. 
Dr. John, 136, 247. 
Mark, 482. 
ANNE, Queen, ^^, 79. 
APPLETON, Charles T., 
203. 
N. W., 220. 
Rev., 467. 
Robert, 203, 220. 
William C, 220. 
ARBUCKLE, 533. 
ARCHIBALD, R.ev., 467. 
ARNOLD, Gen. Benedict, 

no. 
ASHLEY, W. H., 394. 
ASPINWALL, Augustus, 
i57- 
Col. Thomas, 150, 155, 157. 
Dr. William. 150. 
ATHERTON, Frederick A., 
659. 
Dr. Israel, 89, 431. 
James, 41. 
ATKINSON, John B., 385, 

399, 528, 529. 
AVERY, Ephraim, 35c 



AVERY & KE 

359- 
AYER.D. M.. 247. 

Dr. J. C, 298. 
DABCOCK, Frances 
'-' Louise, 267. 

Gilman J., 501. 
BACON, Josiah, 387. 

Nancy, 261. 



ICK, 



Nellie S., 500. 
BAGLEY, Col. Jonathan, 91. 
BAGLEY cS: CARLETON, 

BArLEi',°'Capt. S. Henry, 
576, 616. 
Rev. Augustus F., 294, 485, 

531- 
Caroline E., 443. 
Eunice, 81. 
Marv, 188. 
BAKER, Col. E. D., 550, 551. 

Sarah W'., 303. 
BALCH. Miss (see Mrs. 

J. M. Heard), 498. 
BALDWIN, Isaac, 370, 385, 

413, 423- 
BALL, Caroline M., 406. 
Gilbert L., 207. 
Henry F. (4th Cav.),654. 

Iames (3d H. Art.), 653. 
ohn, 3S. 
onathan, 465. 
)r. Stephen, 431. 
William, 465, 467. 
BALLARD, Eliphas, 273, 
394, 408, 415-420, 493. 495, 

Jeremiah, 140. 
John, 107. 
Mary, 72, 108. 
BALLARD, E., & Messen- 
ger, F. C^ 388. 
BANCROFT, E. Dana, 528. 
J. H., 206. 
Joseph, 386. 

Lory F., 340, 382, 384. 385" 
386, 387, 409, 447, 471, 472, 
528, 529. 
L. F., & Carter, W. C, 386. 
L. F., & Harlow, W. H., 
375, 386. 
BANGS, Isaac, 154. 
BANKS, Gen. N. P., 380, 

• 582, 602, 607. 
BAN^fON, Patrick (53d 

Regt.), 652. 
BAPST,Rev.,5i4. 



* An alphabetical list of the soldiers in the Civil War is made in this connection by 
inserting regiment of service. 

[Er J indicates that an error in initials or spelling of name has been made in one ox 
more of the pages to which reference is made. 



662 



INDEX OF PERSONS. 



BARDWELL, Jordan &., 

357- 
BARKER, James H., 576. 
BARNABEE, 533. 
BARNARD, F. A. P., Pres. 
Columbia College, 359. 
Jeremiah, 290, 291, 535. 
Jonathan, 109, 110, 185. 
William P., 356. 
Winsor, 122, 221. 
BARNES, Anna, 119. 
Artemas, 137. 138. 
James F. (3d Cav.), 654. 
Martha, 119. 
P. A., 303. 

Warren P. (22d Regt.), 644. 
BARRETT, Capt. George 
H., 601, 602. [Er.] 
Goodale &, 360. 
Samuel, 525. 
BARRON, Elias, 45. 
BARTLETT, Anson B. (2d 
Regt.), 637. 
Ezra K. (60th Regt.), 610, 

653- 
Joseph F., 659. 
Hon. Sidney, 425. 
William, 465. 
Tyler &, 395. 
BARTOL, Rev. George M., 

437, 445, 492-493, 490- 
BASTIAN, Dr. D. 1., & 

Fiske, J., 442. 
BATTERSON, Zadoc C, 

(15th Regt.), 586, 640. 
BAZIN, Frances. 142. 
BEAUREGARD, Gen. P. 

T., 620. 
BEAVEN, Samuel, 207, 328, 



BE 






lliamGottlob,333- 



Rev. Henry 



BEEi 

Ward, 307. 
BELCHER, Thomas W., 

(53d Regt.) , 606, 652. 
BELL, John (34th Regt,), 

631,648. 
BELVEA, Samuel, 285, 289. 
^352,363,364,530., 
Samuel, & Howe, Jonas E., 
350, 352,363, 364. 
BEMIS, Daniel H. (36th 
Regt.), 391, 394, 428, 521, 
649. 
BENJAMIN, Lewis (5th 

Cav.), 655. 
BENNETT, Ephraim, 118. 
Isabella, 120. 
Laban, 190, 260. 
Mr 379. 
BENSON, Edward W. (15th 

Regt.), 561, 574, 639. 
BIGELOW, Abel, 193. 
Alexander T., 442. 
Rev. Andrew, D. D., 137. 
Artemas E., 248, 285, 294, 
295, 297, 304, 344, 346-347, 
361, 369. 372, 413, 461. 
Charles B., 250, 304. 
Emily, or Mrs. Horatio N. 
Bigelow, 250, 449, 461, 463. 



Ephraim, 193, 202. 

Erastus B., 192-242, 243, 
24^, 245, 250, 251, 264, 323, 
326, 341, 346, 349, 350, 356, 
378, 39S, 410, 412, 450, 458. 

E. B. & H. N., 161, 174,192, 
269, 323, 341, 382, 446, 492. 

E. B., & Munroe, 196. 

George N., 264-268, 297, 346, 
411, 531- 

Henry N., 248, 250, 304, 372, 

Mrs. Henry N., 321. 
528, 572. 

Horatio N., 193-258, 260, 
263, 264, 268, 270, 272, 273, 
277, 286, 290, 291, 294, 295, 
306, 314, 317, 323, 334, 344, 
346, 351, 360, 369, 370, 371, 
372, 373- 376, 378, 3S4, 400, 
409, 410, 412, 423, 438, 446, 
447, 449, 450, 452, 454, 457, 
458, 459, 460, 461, 462, 468, 
471, 482, 53°, 534, 543, 572, 
578. 

Polly, or Mrs. E. B. Bige- 
low, 449, 461. 

Luke, 527. 

Samuel T., 245, 369, 370, 
528. 

Silas, 264. 

Sophia, 264. 
BLXBY, Carrie, 491. 
BLAIR, A. M., 3S5. 

A. M., Bowman, George. 

BLAN^HARD, C. W., 246, 

286, 290, 294, 369, 493. 
BLOOD, Amos, 405. 
BOARDMAN, S. W.. 297. 
BONNEY, James A. (15th 
•Regt.), 419, 420, 518, 553, 
618, 639. 
BOURNE, Richard, 395. 
BOWERS, Arthur F., 300, 
305, 469- 
Charles, 469. 

Rev. Charles M., 268, 294, 
295, 417-418, 437, 438, 453, 
455, 469-479, 494, 499, 543, 
544, 574, 597, 65$. 
Mrs. C. M., 473, 477. 
Cornelia V., 300. 
Francis A., (25th Regt.), 

569, 645- 
Henry W. (60th Regt.) , 653. 
Josiah, 72, 96. 
BOWLER, Rev. George, 294, 
482, 483, 531- 
Mrs. George, 482. 
BOWMAN, Charles, 290,362, 
399, 403-404, 408. 
George. 385, 404. 
Mrs. GeorgCj 436. 
George, & Blair, A. M.,385. 
Henry (Capt., Major, Col.) , 
288, 324, 417, 419, 500, 527, 
528, 532, 540, 542, 547, 553, 
556, 557, 558. 575, 576, 584, 
597, 599, 638, 647, 649. 
Lieut. Samuel M. (51st 

Regt.), 629, 650,651. 
Simeon, 399, 404, 493. 



Mrs. Simeon, 502. 

.Simeon & Son, 385. 

William, 405. 
BOYCE, Mr. (42d N. Y. 
Regt.), 658. 

Rev. John, 509-511, 512. 
BOYDEN, Uriah A., 378. 
BOYNTON, AlonzoP. (36th 
Regt.), 391, 396, 649. 

Asa, 398. 

C. J., 403. 

John J., 253, 256, 389, 397- 
398. 

Lyman W., 396, 398. [Er.] 

M. A., 303. 

Mary A., 268. 

Matilda A., 396. 

N. A., 26S, 399, 403-404, 461. 
BRADFORD, John H., 152, 

154, 155- 
BRAGG, Gen. Braxton, 600. 
BRANCH, Rev., 467. 
BRECK, Emeline (Bailey), 

137- 
BRIDE, Josiah, 265, 342,346, 

BRIDGE, Aaron S., 104. 
Charles H., 406, 531. 
Richard P., 524. 
William, 104. 
BRIGGS, Gov. George N., 
220, 282. 
Rev. N., 137. 
BRIGHAM, Benajah, 105, 
107, no, 140. 
Carrie A., 304. 
Ephraim, 107, 179. 
Franklin, 381. 
JohnD. (15th Regt.),, 534, 
^ 553, 639- 
Samuel D. (15th Regt.), 

405, 640. 
Silas, 6$. 

Tabitha, (See Prescott,Tab- 
itha, 68) . 
BRIM HALL, Caroline 
(Nye), 401. 
Elisha, 286, 290, 366, 371, 
376, 387, 401-402, 403, 408, 
609. 
Jonas, 401. 
BROCK WAY, W. H., 356. 
BROCKELMAN, Bernard, 
(25th Regt.), 62^, 645. 
Christopher (53a Regt.), 
652. 
BROOKS, Gen.W.T.H.,621. 
Dr. C. A., 394, 436. 
Charles R. (7th Regt., N. 

H.), 658. 
Elizabeth, 148. 
Mary, 148. 
Robert, 404. 
BROTHERS, Hippolyte P. 

(ist Regt.), 637. 
BROWN, B. F., 406. 
Dwight, 331. 

Edwin J. (ist Regt.), 637. 
Herbert J. (4th Cav.), 304, 



, 145. 65^. 
John, 53S. 
John N. W. 



659. 



INDEX OF PERSONS. 



663 



Joshua R., 501. 
Mary Ann, 501. 
Mary B. F., ^80. 
Martha Sarah, 380. 
Moses, 146. 
Rev. Hope, 449. 
R. H., 207. 
BROWNSON, Dr. O. A., 

511. 
BRUCE, L., 531. 
BRYANT, Merton C. 214. 
BRYSON, William (34th 

Rest.), 648. 
BUCHANAN, Pres. James, 

427, 540. 
BUCKLIN, Emerson, 465. 
BUCKMINSTER, Thomas, 

79- 
BUGLE, George M. (2d H. 

Art.), 653. 
BULLARD, Rev. E. W., 

450, 451. 
BULLOCK, Gov. Alexander 

H.,308, 578,601. 
BURB.\NK, A.L., 394. 
Levi S., 304. 
Rev., 467. 
BURDETTor BURDITT, 

Albert T., 168, 390, 391, 

439- 
Alfred A., 175, 253, 262, 286, 

292, 362, 391, 396-397, 403, 

408, 440, 472, 476, 477, 527, 

528. 
Augustus P., 168, 320, 36i, 

369, 376, 389-390, 394, 390, 

439, 440, 441, 493- 
Caroline S., 267. 
Charles C, (53d Regt.) 375, 

396, 397, 652. 
Deborah (Ross), or Mrs. 

Nathan Burdett, 174. 
Edward \V., 304, 375, 477- 
Eliza, 174. 

EHzabeth J., wife of Bur- 
dett, G. VV., 470, 473. 
Family, 162, 167-176, 189, 

262, 439. 
Frances E., 304. 
Frederick \\ ., 470, 471. 
Dr. George W., 175, 261, 

262, 268, 294, 297, 303, 369, 

385-386, 390, 432, 437-438, 

439-441, 443, 46S, 470, 471, 

476, 478, 528, 531, 602. 
H. A., 388, 397, 39S. 
Horatio S., 168, 390, 4'!9,476. 
Mrs. H.S.,476 
H. S., Whitten&,39o. 
James, 168,390, 450. 
Jerome S., 108,376,377,389- 

390, 440, 493. 
John ist, 168. 
John (Deacon), 105, 106, 132, 

160, 168, 170, 171, 175, 176, 

186, 187, 221, 260, 389-390, 

394, 435, 439, 464, 465, 466, 

467, 46S, 470, 471, 475, 504. 
John, Jr., 168, 176, 188, 260. 

465, 466, 480. 
Mary (Mrs. John Lowe), 

164, t68. 



Mary .^nn, 261. 

Mary E., 470. 

Nathan, 105, 109, 116, 118, 
140, 147, 168-174, 175, 176, 
179, 180, 187, 260, 271, 285, 

375, 390, 396, 439, 440, 465, 
480, 531. 

Mrs. Nathan Burdett, or 
Margaret (Darling) . 172, 
174. 

Nathan, Jr., 175, 260, 375- 

376, 470, 531. 

Phineas or Phinehas S., 

168, 171, 390. 
Robert, 16S. 
Sara E., 470. 
Sarah, 470. 

Thomas, 175, 375-376, 470- 
Thomas E. (20th Regt.), 

643- 
W. D., 396. 
William, 175, 260. 
BURGESS, James F., (15th 
Regt.), 639. 
John R. (27th Regt.), 621, 

647. 
Thomas H. (15th Regt.) 
587, 640. 
BURGOYNE,Gen.John,96,, 

98, 129. 
BURK, John (99th Penn. 
Regt.), 658. 
Luis, 163. 
BURKE, Ellen(Mrs. Patrick 
Heagney), 518. 
Patrick (21st Regt.), 587, 
601, 616. [Error, out 
agrees with soldiers' 
monument], 643. 
Patrick (25th Regt.), 645. 
BURNS, Gen., 590. 
Martin F. (36th Regt.), 650. 
Matthew (loth Regt. 111. 

Cav.), 65«. 
Robert, 310, 312. 
Thomas J. (34th Regt.),63i, 
648. 
BURNSIDE, Gen. A. E., 
564, 565, 568, 576, 578, 582, 
587, 589, 591, 600, 615, 617, 
623. 
BUSH, M. T., 304. 
BUSS, Mrs. Charlotte, 401. 
Lieut. Elisha G. (15th 

Regt.) 594.638. 
Elizabeth, 167. 
BUTLER. Asaph. 80, 91. 
Gen. B. F., 379, 596, 618, 621. 
Dinah, 128. 
Elizabeth, 127. 
Eunice, 127. 
Eunice, 2d, 127. 
James, So. 
J. L., 304. 

Joseph, no, 128. 465. 
Mary .A. Harris, 221, 481. 
Simon, 80, 90, 127. 
Simon, 2d, 127. 
BUTLERS, 80. 
BUTTERFIELD, Henry, 
28S, 400, 493, 534. 
Henry, & Knight, 375, 386. 



John v., 493. 
BUTTRICK, William F., 

659. 
BUZZELL, John P., 256, 

528. [Er.] 
BYNNER, Edwin, 291, 367, 
374, 384, 416-417, 536- 
Edwin L., 305, 417. 
PABOT, Prof. Samuel, 440. 
^ CALDWELL, Jas. W., 
358, 383, 413. 
J. W., & Kendall. G. H., 

383. 
John F., 3S3, 384. 
CALLAHAN, Thomas (3d 

Cav.), 654. 
CALHOUN, W. B..282. 
CAMPBELL, F. Frances, 

304- 
CAMERON, Angus (84th 
Regt., N.Y.),326, 658. 
Donald, 326, 369, 370, 572, 

T 574- „ , 

James b ., 326. 

Mary A., 304. 

Walter M., 24S, 326, 370. 
CANOUSE, John, 129. 
CARLETON, Albert S., 207, 
209, 247, 248, 253, 260, 261, 
268, 285, 294, 357, 358-359, 
368, 373, 409, 410, 535, 536. 

A. S. & Bagley, 360. 

Moses, 358. 

M B., or Mrs. A. S., 462, 

CA^MICHAEL, Neil, 332, 
CARNEY, Mary L., 519. 
CARPENTER, Mrs. C. M. 
S., 304. 

Sally, 175. 
CARR, Frank E.,3S6, 501. 
^J- S., 529. 
CARRIGAN, John (Navy), 

655. 
CARKOL, James, 148. 
CARRUTH, Caleb, 521. 

Charles E., no. 

Ephraim. no. 

John E. (15th Regt. and 2d 
H. Art.}, 587,640, 653. 
CARSWELL, Allan, 256. 
CARTER, Abijah,388. 

Alpheus H.(53d Regt.), 651. 

and Andrews, 195. 

Dr. Calvin, 173, 431-434, 
435, 437, 527- 

Charles VV. (53d Regt.), 652. 

Ephraim, 527. 

James, 525. 

Dr. James, 431, 432. 

James G., 272, 378, 409, 410, 
447- 

Capt. John, go. 

Leonard, 534. 

Levi H.,329, 388, 394, 398. 

Mary E,, 375- 

Samuel, 1S8. 

Solon, 137. 

W. C, & Alexander, Jo- 
siah, 387. 

W. C, Bancroft, L. F., and, 
385, 387, 442. 



664 



INDEX OF PERSONS. 



W. C, & Harlow, W. H., 

C ARVILLE, Daniel, 78, 136. 
CASS, Mary, 331. 
GATE, Mr., 405. 
CAULFIELD, Thos. (15th 

Regt.), 587,607,639. 
CENCER, Victor (Alien in 

service in Civil War) 659. 
CHACE, Alanson, 132, 133- 

134, 136, 160, 170, 178, 221, 
268, 272, 285, 259, 369, 406, 
465, 466, 468, 471, 472, 476. 

Mrs. Alanson, 473. 
Amia Ann, 132, 137. 
Charles, 131-133, 136, i37. 

138, 145, 170, 464, 465, 466, 

4S7. 530. 
Charles H., 134, 367, 406-407. 
Charles Jr., 132, 133, 160, 161, 

464, 465, 466. 
Charles H. & Co., 387, 406. 
Diana, 132, 137. 
Family, 406. 
George Ide (Prof.) , 132, 134- 

135, 136, 137- 
Maria Ann, 134. 
Moses, 465. 
William J., 132. 

CHAMBERLAIN, Dr.Pres- 
ton, 294. 

W. H^ 384, 393- 
CHAMBERS, Hiram A., 

(15th Regt.), 5S6, 640. 
CHAMPNEY, Samuel D., 

(25th Regt.), 628,645. 
CHANDLER, George Fred, 

528, 529- 
CHANNING, Rev. W. E., 

502. 
CHAPIN, Coffin, 109. 

Thomas T., 465. 
CHAPMAN, H. J.,394. 
CHASE,Bishop Carlton,438. 
David, 397, 532, 533- ' 
Eleanor C, 438. 
Rev. E. S., 490. 
CHENERY, Frank A. (36th 
Regt.), 420, 623. 624, 650. 
James P. (15th Regt.), 419, 

553, 555, 557, 594, 639. 
Seth, 419. 
CHENEY, Gilbert A. (2d 

Regt.), 587, 637. 
CHICKERING, Julia M., 

35i- 
Rev. Joseph W., 445-446. 
CHILDE, Dr. Robert, 36. 
CHILDS, Abigail, 449. 
Abram (27th Regt.), 565,647. 
Amos, 765. 

Ira G. (Dea.), 449, 450, 452, 
454, 460. 
CHIPMAN, Edwards. (4th 

Cav.), 654, 
CHU RC HILL, A. & N., 385. 
Dolly, 221. 
Mrs., 255, 406. 
CLARK, Thomas (22d Regt.) 
644. 
Major Wm. S., 563, 567. 
CLEVELAND, Mrs., 403. 



Pres. Grover, 523. 
R. G. 221. 
CLIFFORD, Alfred, 501. 
James (15th Regt.), 595,625, 
640. 
CLINTON, Gov. DeWitt, 
202. 
Sir Henry, 98. 
Tom, 549. 
COBB, Sarah A., 304. 

Rev. Sylvanus, 503-504. 
COBURN, L., 395, 406. 

Mr., 481. 
COHEN, Wm. (21st Regt.), 

5S3, 601, 616, 643. 
COLBURN, Charles, 493. 
Ellen F., 303. 
James A., 501. 
Sarah A,, 303. 
COLE. Joseph, 290. 
COLLESTER, Osgood, yjl- 

532, 536- 
COMEY, Dr. P. P., 362. 
CON A NT, Wm. F., 361,493. 
CONNELLY, Rev. John J., 

513- 
CON NIG, Isaac P. (15th 

Regt.), 587,640. 
CONQUERETTE, Louis, 

CONVERSE, J. W., 476. 
Wm. W. (4th Cav.), 654. 
CONWAY, Francis (4th 

Cav.), 654. 
COOK, Dr. CD., 386,441. 
F. R., 406, 
Frank, 329. 
.Jesse, 158. 
John E., 538. 

Willis A. (15th Regt.), 547, 
^^552, 553, 557, 639- 
COOLIDGE, Ira, 285. 
Josiah, 130, 131. 
Rev. John P.. 489. 
COOPER, R.K,(i5th Regt.) 

553, 594, 640. 

COPELAND, Charles, 171. 
COPP, CeUnda M., 304. 
CORCORAN, James, 520-1. 
Mrs. James, 521. 
John W., 305, 380, 520-3. 
Mrs. John W., 522. 
WiUiam (15th Regt.), 640. 
CORNING, Rev. Wm. H., 
268, 278, 294, 453, 4^5, 458. 
Mrs. Wm. H., 455, 463. 
CORN WALLIS, Gen. Chas. 

535- 
COR WIN, George, 50. 
COTTON, Benjamin R., 207, 
289, 493- 
John B., 305, 
Sarah M., 1S8. 
COUCH, Gen. D. N,. 559, 

591, 592. 
COULTER, John T. (25th 
Regt.) , 620, 645. 
Lieut. Wm. J. (15th Regt.), 
362, 418, 419, 420, 547, 588, 
594, 625, 63S. 
COWDALL, John, 38,39, 48. 
COWDREY, Haskell &, 366. 



COYLE, Patrick (53d Regt.) 

606, 652. 
CRAFTS, Thomas, 525. 
CRAIG, Edward C. (2d Regt. 

N. H.),657. 
John W. (25th Regt.), 645. 
Wm. H. (7th U.S.), 657. 
CRANDALL, Rev.Phineas, 

481. 
CRANE, Eliza, 303. 
CREELMAN, Matthew, 

(15th Regt.) , 640. 
CRITTENDEN, Gen. T. 

L., 622. 
CROMWELL, Oliver, 34, 

357- 
CROMETT, Hiram A. (ist 

Cav.), 654. 
CROOK, Gen. George, 587. 
CROSBY. David, 393. 
CROSS, Rev. J. W., 447, 449, 

CROSSLEY & Sons, 232. 
GROSSMAN, Willis A., 

(60th Regt0,653. 
CRO WNINGSHIELD, Mr. 

132. 
CUD WORTH, Warren, 159. 
CUMMINGS, Dea. George, 
220, 471, 472, 476. 

Family, 208. 
CUNNINGHAM, John, 260. 
CURRIER, E. A., 74, 190. 
CURTIS, B. R.,215. 

James, 396. 
CUSHrN(3, Chas. C. (Navy) 
658. 

Hon. Edmund, 308, 497. 

E. L., 308. 

Henry P. (U.S. A.), 651. 

Col. Job, 97, 99- 

John E. (60th Regt.), 65^. 

Martha Ann Stearns, 308. 

Rev. Wm., 295, 320, 497. 
CUTLER, Chas. B. 64th), 

CUTL^t'eR, Annie B., 304. 

Dr. Calvin, 538. [Er.] 
CUTTING, Betsey, 491. 

George H., 659. 

Jonathan, 72. 

Orin L. (15th Regt.), 640. 

Silas, 465. 
pvABOLL, Briggs M. (15th 
^ Regt.), 553,639. ^ 
DAKIN, Archelaus C, 207, 
253, 350, 351, 461. 

Joel. 465. 
DAME, Abbie E., 300, 304. 

Abigail (Thompson) , 425. 

Dr. John, 425. 

John T., 28b, 294, 295, 361, 
384, 389, 394, 411, 425-428, 
437, 461, 498, 543, 571, 572. 

Mrs. J. 1,, 391, 463. 

Walter R., 427. 
DAMON, Adeline K., 342. 

Ellen Augusta, 469. 

Samuel. 156, 201, 211. 
DANFORTH, Thomas. 41- 
DANIELS, Jane A., 303. 
DARLING, Amos, 148. 



INDEX OF PERSONS. 



665 



Margaret, 109, i6q. 
William H. (57th Regt.), 
650. 
DAVENPORT, Benjamin 
F. (3d Cav.), 632, 654. 
James, 137. 
Rev., 446. 
DAVIDSON, Capt. Alonzo 
S. (36th Regt.), 617, 623, 
627, 649. 
Charles L., 6;8. 
Francis A.. 482, 484, 491. 
Henry L, (15th Regt.), 640. 
Lucius D. (36th Regt.), 650. 
DAVIE, Humplirey, 50. 
DAVIS, Alicia, 373. 
C. D., 392, 501. 
Mrs. C. D.-, 384, 393- 
Frank L. (Volunteer) 658. 
Miss E., 405. 
Hon. John, 373. 
John P., 417. 
Perley B.. 304. 
Rev., 447. 
DAWES, Alfred, 659. 
DAY, Stephen, 36, 38. 

Mclntyre &, 374. 
DELANO, George, 253. 
DELAN Y.John (21st Regt.) 

601, 643. 
DEMING, Mrs. J. R., 391. 
DERBY, Lydia J., 304, 463. 

Capt. Richard, 556. 
DESHON, Moses, 524. 
DEVENS, Col. Chas., 546, 
550, 551, 552-553, 555, 556, 
586. 
DEXTER, Rev. H. M., 451. 
Trustum D. (15th Regt.), 
389, 587, 640. 
DICKINSON, Mary A., 400. 

E.M.,360. 
DICKSE;N, Alice, 328. 
DICKSON, Josephs. (15th 
Regt.). 587,640. 
Patrick J. (21st Regt.), 567, 
568. 631, 643. 
DIERSCH, William (20th 

Regt.), 561, 643. 
DILLINGHAM, Dr. A. W., 

394, 437- 
DINSMORE,Chas. M., 107, 

365- 

George B., 365. 

George W., 365. 
DIVELL, Mary, 79. 
DIVOLL, Elizabeth, 114. 
DIXON, Edward (60th Regt.) 

653- 
DOONE, Thomas, 9. 
DOGGETT, W. S.,357. 
DOLLISON, see Dorrison. 
DONNELLY, Catherine, 

DONOVAN, John (20th 

Regt.), 596.647. 
DORRISON or DOLLI- 
SON, Eliza A., 503. 
Family, 262. 
John, 124. 

Nancy (Pierce) 137,503. 
Oscar A. (36th Regt.), 649. 

44 



Samuel, 124, 130-131, 171, 
175, 181,260, 465. 
DOWNE, Harriet, 450. 
DOWNES, Mary A. E.,304. 
DOWNING, Wm. A., 403, 
DOWSE, Dr. Chas. D., 436, 

437- 493- 
DRURY, Capt. John, 97, 98, 

DRYDEN, Messrs., 202. 
DUDLEY, Gov., 65, 77, 78. 

J. B. & H. M.,405. 
DUNBAR, H. K., 390. 391. 
DUNCAN, Chas. (9th Regt.) 

560. 638. 
DUNSMOOR, Dr. John, 68, 

73- 
Dr. William, 89, 92, 94, 431. 
CARLY.Gen. JubalA.,623, 
^ 631. 

EATON, Eliza J. B., 461. 
Esther L., 255. 
Rev. J. M. R., 263, 268, 400, 

448, 450-454- 
Mrs. J. M. R., 463. 
.Susan, 449. 
Thomas, 450. 
William, 206, 255, 256, 369, 

410, 447, 449, 460. 
William 0.(23d Regt.), 644. 
ECCLES, Roger(36th Regt.) 
330, 629, 650. 
William (15th Regt.), 586, 
640. 
EDDY, Henry, 256, 461, 528, 
534, 572- 



Tamar, 470. 
EDEMAN, Bernard J. (53d 
Regt. and 2d H. Art/), 
652, 653. 
EDGERLY, HemanO.(i5th 
Regt.), 553, 557,626,640. 
ELDER, James, 123. 
ELHERT, Ferdinand (25th 

Regt), 645. 
ELIOT, John, 55. 
ELIZABETH. Queen, 34. 
ELLAM, John (5th Maine 

Regt.),65S. 
ELLEN WOOD, Sally, 148. 
ELLIOT, Christine, 258. 
EMERSON, Moses, 104, 167. 

Ralph Waldo, 411. 
EMMETT, Richard, 359. 
EMORY,General W.H.,604. 
EVELETH, Joshua, 466. 

Mary Ann, 491. 
PA I R B A N K or FA I R- 
r BANKS, Chas. F., 242,245. 

Families, 192. 

George E., 361. 

Henry P., 203, 243, 244, 496. 

Jonas, 45, 56. 

Joshua, 45, 56. 

Loring & Co., 203. 

Stephen, 203, 219, 220, 244, 
245. 

Widow, 58. 

Zophar, 46s. 
FAIRCHILD, Rev., 574. 
FALLS, Warren, 206. 
FANNING, David H.,531. 



& Moore, 385. 
FARNSWORTH, Dorcas 
E., 267. 
Emory, 207. 
Lydia, 261. 
Mary, 346. 

w. A., 419. 

FARRAGUT, Admiral, Da- 
vid G., 603, 604, 658. 
FARRER, Jacob, 41, 58. 
FAR WELL, Abel, 465. 
FAULKNER, Elizabeth, 
499- 
Emily M., 261. 
Horace, 286, 369, 376, 377, 

Paul, 465. 
FAWCETT, Sarah A., 304. 
FAY, Francis B., 371. 
Mr., of Lowell Carpet Co., 

242. 
John (36th Regt.), 650. 
FELTON, Daniel, 115, 116. 
Ellen S. (Mrs. James Lo- 
gan) ,329. 
FEN WICK, Bishop, 509. 
FFOUNELL, John, 40. 
FIELD, C. W., 320, 341, 388, 
408, 415, 527, 532- 
C. W. & Son, 388. 
Mrs. C. W., 573. 
C. W. Jr., 388. 
James, 531. 

Lucius C36th Regt.), 387, 
402, 477, 649. 
FIFE, Nancy, 148. 
FINNESSEY, James 

N.Y. Regt.), 658. 
FINNIE, James B.,331. 



{42d 



Robert, . 
Robert J., 331 
FISHER, Abiar(36th Regt.) 



331 



31,. 5,01., 



477, 626, 649. 
Dexter, 427. 
Jacob, 272, 279, 373. 
Mary A., 267, 26S. 
Rev. George, 449, 467. 
FISKE, Edward R., 357, 
Rev. Frederick A., 298-299. 
Dr. Jeremiah, 390, 391, 441- 

443, 461-531, 533- 
Dr. J.&Bastian, Dr. D. I., 

Dn J. & Ingalls, Dr. D. B., 

442. 
Dr. J. & Pevey, Dr. A. A., 

442. 
& Co., 375. 
FITTON, Rev. James, 508. 
FITTS, Linus, 485. 
Rev. Harvey. 468, 469. 
William E. (34th Regt.) ,648. 
FLAGG, Charles, 465. 
Frederick E. (36th Regt.), 

600, 650. 
Frederick (36th Regt.), 493, 

649. 
Harlow &, 386. 
Josiah, III. 
Samuel, 348. 
William E.. 658. 
FLEMING, William, 285. 



666 



INDEX OF PERSONS. 



FLOOD, Betsey, 491. 
FOLSOM, George S., 332. 
FORBES, Clarissa (Nichols) 
306. 
Eli, ist, 306. 
Eli, 2d, 304. 

Franklin, 228, 246, 253, 288, 
2Sg, 290, 294, 295, 296, 297, 
306-324, 325, 330, 331. 364, 
368, 369, 371, 372, 412, 413, 
493, 495, 501, 531, 536, 557, 
571, 572, 573, 574, 580. 
Mrs. Franklin, 314, 497, 502. 
Luke, 307. 
FOSDICK, Samuel, 350. 
FOSTER, George H., 358, 
182, 491, 531. 
John R., 346, 394, 395, 659- 
Lucinda, 299, 300. 
Gen. John S., 564, 565, 569. 
W. E.,507. 
FRANCIS, James B..316. 
FRANKLIN, Benjamin,266, 
306, 315. 
General, 559, 584, 589, 590. 
FRAZER, 2d Lieut. Charles, 
(15th Regt.), 166,361, 587, 
639- 
John (15th Regt.), 5S6, 640. 
FREEMAN. John W. 
(Navy), 608, 655. 
Lieut. Joshua (15th Regt.) 

552, 638. ^ 
Mary A., 256. 

Mrs. Mehitable, 393. 

Robert S., 207, 255, 348. 

2d Lieut. William T., (53d 
Regt.), 258, 501, 602, 651. 

Mrs. WilHam T., 175. 

Cobb & Co.. 196. 
FRENCH.Dr. C.L., 364. 

Gen. William H., 585, 586. 
FROST, E. B.,461. 

William E., 355, 357, 366, 

FRfii or FRY, John, 105, 

164. 
John, Jr., 403. 
Obadiah, 107. 
Thomas, 163, 176. 
FULLER, Alden (15th 

Regt.), 553, 639. 
Lieut. Andrew L. (15th 

Regt.), 166, 354-356, 369, 

493, 531, 534, 538, 547, 549, 

553, 555, 572, 609, 638. 
Edward, no, 128, 137. 
Major Edward IVL, (34th 

Regt.), 628, 647. 
Eben S., 12,361, 362, 501,659. 
E. S. & S. T., 362. 
Ephraim, 167, 170, 354, 361, 

362. 
Family, 128. 
Ignatius, 128. 
James, 95, 98, 12S, 465, 466. 
James, Jr., 12S. 
John (53d Regt.), 652. 
Mary Ann, 137. 
Mary W., 130. 
Sarah, 128. 
Sidney T., 362, 659. 



S. T.,& Rice, N., 289, 362. 
Solomon, no. 
William A., no, 148. 
FULTON, Rev. J.D., D.D., 

478. 
FYFE, Abigail, 137. 

Polly, 128. 
r~lAGE, Daniel, 465. 
^~^ Gen. Thomas, 96. 
John, 465. 
Samuel, 465. 
GALLAGHER, Ellen, (Mrs. 
John Sheehan), 516. 
Thomas (34th Regt.) 632, 
648. 
GALLIE, P., 148. 
GAMBLE, John, 137. 
GARDNER, Rev. Andrew, 
64, 444. 
Frederick, (Navy), 655. 
GARIBALDI,Giuseppe,567. 
GARRETT, Harmon, 38. 
GARRIGAN, John, (Navy), 

655. 
GATELY, John (3d Cav.), 
632, 654. 
Martin (9th Regt.), 638. 
GATES, Abigail, 72. 
Capt. Thomas, 95,97. 
Celinda P., 303. 
(iapt. Hezekiah, 80, 105. 
Sarah, 123. 

Capt. Thomas, 121, 128. 
Victoria E., 303. 
& Johnson, 146. 
GAYLORD, Laura, 503. 

Luther, 361, 503. 
GERRY, Dr. Gustavus A., 

442. 
GIBBON, Gen. John, 592, 
- - - ■ :Er.] 

(4th Cav.), 



622j 625, 626. [Er.] 

"s'S, John 
633, 655- 



GIBBON 



Patrick (34th Regt.), 648. 
GIBBS, Albion W., 262, 356, 

429. 
Charles W., 429. 
Edward M., 429. 
Elijah, 428. 
Elizabeth L., 303. 
Enoch K., no, 164, 166, 260, 

285, 371, 381, 428-429, 449, 

529, 530, 531, 572. 
Family, 162. 
Martha L., 449. 
Tiffany & Co., 429. 
William H., 304, 358, 429. 
GIBSON, Abram J.,374, 401, 

533- 
Family, 367. 
Isaac J., 400-401. 
James, Jr. (Navy), 655. 
Rev. Matthew, 508. 
Deacon William H., 401, 
472, 475- 
GIFFORD, Henry A. (36th 

Regt.), 650. 
GILBERT, Rev. Washing- 
ton, 496. 
GILMORE, Patrick S., 533. 
GLAZIER, Ruth, 72. 
GLINES, Mr., 344. 



GODDARD, Artemas W. 

(4th Cav.), 654. 
Elder Luther, 466. 
GODWIN, Parke, 551. 
GOLDSMITH, Oliver, 142, 
GOLDTHWAITE, Han- 
nah, 171. 
John, 124, 186. 
GOODALE, Miss A. W., 
463. 
Carrie E., 304. 
Edward W., 207, 350, 369, 

461. 
George F., 482. 
Henry T., 359, 392, 408, 533. 
Mary, 347. 
Miriam, 74. 
Obadiah, 207. 
R. B., 207. 
William, 401, 531. 
GOODING, Col., 604. 
GOODMAN, Edwin M. 

(Navv), 656. 
GOODRlDGE, Mary, 148. 
GOODWIN, Harriet, 188. 
GOOKIN, Daniel, 35. 
GORDON, Freeman M., 256. 
John (25th Regt.), 569, 645. 
GORHAM, Jason, 461. 
GORMAN, James (Navy), 
656. 
General Willis A., 558, 559, 
560, 585, 5S6. 
GOSS, Elizabeth, 69-70. 
John, son of Philip, 65, 66, 

68, 69-70, 71, 72, 130. 
Mrs. John, or Mary Goss, 

73- 
John, son of Joseph, 130, 

137- 
Mrs. John, 170. 
Jonathan, 70. 
Joseph, 130. 

Mary, dr. of John Goss, 69. 
Mary, (see Prescott, Mary, 

dr. of J. P., 2d.) 
Mary, 73. 
Philip, 63, 69. 
Philip, son of John, 6g, 70. 
Thomas, y;^. 
William, 69-70. 
GOULD, Rev. Albert, 483, 

4S8-4S9. 
Capt. Benjamin, 110-112, 

131, 164, 184. 527. [Er.] 
Benjamin A., in, n2. 
Elizabeth, no. 
Family, in. 112. 
Hannah Flagg, in. 
Misses Whitney &, 3S6. 
GRADY, Hannah, 519. 
Patrick (4th Cav.), 654. 
Thomas (nth Regt.), 6-?8. 
GRAHAM, John (Navy)' 

656, 
GRAICHEN, Bernard (20th 

Regt.), 643. 
Edward (25th Regt.X 645. 
Frank (15th Regt. and 2d 

H. Art.),553, 640, 653- 
Gustave (15th Regt.j, 587, 

640. 



INDEX OF PERSONS. 



(^6^ 



GRANT, Gen. U.S., 597,598, 
600, 613, 615, 616, 617, 618, 
621, 624, 629. b-\\. 
GRAY, Rev. F. T., 496. 
Nathaniel (Navy), 656. 
Thomas, 142. 
Winthrop, 525. 
GREELEY, Ur. Adoniran 
J-, 437- 
Henry C, 2S5, 295, 371. 3S3, 
391, 393: 399, 408, 437. 475i 
476, 477, 531. 543, 571, 572, 
573- 659- 
Horace, 411. 
Smith &, 408. 
GREEN or GREENE, Ach- 
sah (Stone), 121. 
Asa W. (19th Regt.), 642. 
Charles F., 262,257, 528. 
David, R., 203. 
Family, 262. 
Franklin W. (19th Regt.), 

642. 
Gilbert. 194, 268, 286, 360, 
369, 384, 38S-389, 400, 408, 
433, 450, 457, 460, 531, 573- 
Mrs. Gilbert, 393, 463. 
John (Navy), 656. 
Levi, 121, 257, 260, 271, 350, 
352, 360, 364-365, 366, 369, 
399, 410, 447, 449, 452, 460, 
527, 528, 530. 
L., Parker, J. B. &,365. 
Lewis (Navy), 656. 
Lucy, ^49. 
Gen. Nathaniel, 96. 
Oliver, 403. 

Roscoe G., 136, 137-138. 
Solomon, 366. 
Sophia, 449. 
Sophia 6., 267, 268. 
Williams, 163. 260. 
GREENLEAF, Silas S., 188 
GREENOUGH, David, 151, 
152, 153- 
Moses, 332. 
GREENWOOD, Henry, 
(15th Regt.), 330, 419,553, 
554. 640 
James, 136, 330, 392, 408. 
James, Jr., 330. 
John W., 330. 
GREY. Judge Horace, 308. 
GROBY, Jonathan, 531. 
GROUT, Seth, 133. 
GRUMBACHER, Moritz, 

(2;th Regt.), 623, 645. 
GUH.D. Chester, 356. 

HADLEY. Rev. E. F., 489. 
HAGUE, Samuel, 141. 
HALE, Col. Enoch, 99. 

Martha E., 303. 
HALL, ALVAN, 460, 530. 
Augustus M. (21st Regt.), 

643- 
Caroline, 325. 
John H., 4S0. 
Joseph (^d Cav.), 608, 654. 
HALLECK, Gen, H.\V.,582. 
HALLETT, Lieut.-Colonel 

Enoch. 100. 
HALLIDAY, Abel, 533. 



Monroe, 533. 
HAMBLET, James, 207. 
HAMMOND, C. L. S., 369, 
371, 372. 
Perley, 123. 
Mrs. Perley, 123. 
HANCOCK, Gen. Winfield 

S., 592. 616, 624. 
HANDLEY, John (34th 

Regt.), 64S. 
HAPGOOD, Charles H., 

(15th Regt.), 587, 641. 
HARDY, Alonzo E., 345. 
HARKNESS, Prof. Albert, 

HARROW, Edward E., 29S, 
364. 493. 

W. k., 385, 3S6-387. 

W. H., Bancroft &, 375,386. 

W. H., &Flagg, 386. 
HARRIMAN, Rev. John, 

HAR^ilNGTON, Anna S., 

. 303- . 

Capt. Artemas, 122. 

Edward F.(53d Regt.), 652. 

George, 56-57. 

George E., 392, 481, 482, 484, 

491, 531- 
Rev. Timothy, -y},, 88, 104, 

W'^.'^fi., 500. 
HARRIS, Capt. Asahel, 131, 

165, 169, 181-182, 187, 337, 

338, 339, 407, 529- 
Charles B. (51st Regt.), 651. 
Daniel, 98, 168, 169, 176, 177, 

178, 179, 181, 186, 187, 190, 

Edmund, 179, 285, 367, 369, 
518. 

Emory, 105, 109, 163, 169, 
179-181.187,221, 250, 262, 
337-344,375,396.^ 

Emory, Jr., 180, 181, 375. 

Mrs. Emory, Jr., 463. 

Edwin A., 305, 339-344, 37i, 
501, 572. 

Mrs. Edwin A., 131, 181,344. 

Family, 162, 176-182,189,206, 
262, 501. 

Frederick, 180. 

(ieorge, 180, 188. 

George S., 305, 339-343. 

Hannah, 449. 

Harriet, 180. 

Levi, 179, 181, 190, 493. 

Mrs. Levi, 502. 

Lucy, 364. 

Maria, 134, 178. 

Mary .\., 481. 

Sidney, 161, 181, 182, 191, 
221, 268, 270, 271, 272, 273, 
277, 285, 286, 289, 337-344, 
369, 3S7. 410, 413, 493, 503, 
5iO, 531- 

Sidney & Sons, 339-344. 

Mrs. Sidney, 343. 

Washington, 207. 
HARRISON, President Wil- 
liam, 422. 
HARRITY, Michael, Sr., 



519. 
Mrs. Michael, 519. 
Michael, Ir., 519. 
Mrs. Michael, 519. 
HART, Martha C, 429. 
HART WELL, Charles H. 
(3d Cav), 654. 
Capt. Ephraim, 99. 
Susan, 304. 
HASKELL, Abraham, 527. 
Capt. Andrew, 95, 97, 99. 
David, 327, 407. 
Mrs. David, 342. 
Harriet M., 304, 463. 
Lucy, 372. 
Sally, 148. 
Wm. H., 134, 392, 403, 406, 

407, 408, 461. 
Wm. H., Chace, C. H. &, 

406, 407. 
& Cowdrey, 221, 366. 
HASKINS, J. B., 391. 
HASTINGS, Jonathan, 465. 
Lyman H. (36th Regt.), 590, 

650. 
Martha A., 258. 
Nathaniel, 465. 
Reuben, 128. 
Major Rufus, 137. 
R. S.,371, 

Wm. A. 06th Regt.), 649. 
HAVEN, Julia J., 303. 
HAVERTY, Daniel, 394, 
402-403, 528. 
Mrs. Daniel, 502. 
Thomas, 331. 
HAWES. M, D., 395. 
HAWKES, Col. George P., 

601. [Er.] 
HAWORTH, James (21st 

Regt.), 643. 
HAYES, Edward K. (2d 
Regt.), 637. 
Junius D. (15th Regt.), 609, 
641, 659. 
HAYNES, Joseph, 106. 
Samuel H., 105. 
Silas, 158. 
HAYWARD, Sarah, 45, 61. 
HEAGNEY, Patrick, 518. 
Thomas. 518. 
W. F., 395, 518. 
HEAD, James (28th Regt.), 

647. 
HEALEY, Martin (3d Cav.), 
654. 
M.C., 472. 
HEARD Family, 497. 
Edmund, 524, 527. 
Rev. J. M., 478, 497-499, 

543, 574- 
Mrs. J. M.. 498, 503, 573. 
HEATH, Gen. William, 95. 
HECKMAN, Gen. Charles 

A., 6x8, 621. 
HEIGH WAY, George A., 
477- 
John G., 256, 475, 477. 
HEINTZELMAN, Gen. S. 

P-,559. 
HEMMENWAY, Miss S., 
48I. 



668 



INDEX OF PERSONS. 



HENRY, Eben S. (22d 

Kegt.),644. 
or HENERY, George 1. 

(15th Regt.), 626, 641. 
Mary, 74. 
HEYWOOD. S. P., 396, 399. 
HIGGINS. Timothv (34th 

and 57th Regts.), 618, 648, 

650. 
HILDRETH, A.E.,220. 
Mr., 187. 
Thomas, 138. 
HILL, John, 38. 
HILLS, Maria P., 303, 304. 
HITCHCOCK, Rev. Wm. 

D., 294, 455-456, 531- 
HINDS, Sally, 148. 
HITTY, Mr., 129. 
HOADLEY, Frances R.,267. 
John C, 217, 268, 270, 290, 

344, 37S-379, 399, 409, 410. 
HOBAN, John (7th N. H. 

Regt.), 657. 
HOBBS, Charles P. (nth 

Regt.), 638. 
HOFFMAN, Charles (15th 

and 53d Regts.), 586, 606, 

641, 652. 
HOLBROOK, Amos, 446. 
Charles E. (15th Regt.), 586, 

John'w., (34th Regt.), 633, 

648. 
Levi, 369. 
Reuben, 206. 
R. W., 260, 530. 
HOLDEN Mary, 148. 

Sarah, 148. 
HOLDER, Christopher, 403. 
David, 403. 
Frank or Francis T., 256, 

403, 531, 654. [Er.] 
William P. (15th and 53d 
Regts.), 375, 403, 531, 641, 
652. 
HOLLIHAN, Michael, (21st 

Regt.), 643. 
HOLMAN, Abigail, 148. 
Calvin, 529. 

Charles, 404, 493, 495, 531. 
Charles, & Whitcomb, Nel- 
son, 381, 404. 
Henry B. (15th Regt.), 587, 

641. 
Herman (25th Regt.), 627, 

645. 
Joseph S. (15th Regt.), 641. 
Lucy M., 303. 
HOLT, Benjamin, 465, 467. 
Elizabeth, See Goss, Eliza- 
beth. 
Joseph, 393. 
Jotham, 137, 465. 
H0LT0N,C.l3., 402, 408. 
HOMER. 127. 
HOOKER, H.G. O., 472. 
Gen. Joseph, 585, 589, 590, 
591, 592. 
HOPKINS, Clark, 207. 
HORNE, Dr. C. F., 370, 385, 



TMAN, William H. 



391, i42 
HORS' 



& Sons, 248. 
HOSMER, Samuel H., 477, 

659. 
HOUGHTON, Abigail, 129. 
Alfred, 206. 
Augustine F. (ist Cav.), 

207, 404, 654. 
Capt. Benjamin, 99, 100,131. 
Caleb, 465, 466. 
Cyrus, 465. , 
Daniel, 491. 
Eliza, 360, 449. 
Eliza E., 449. • 
Family, 129, 206, 262. 
Frank E. (15th Regt.), 626, 

641. 
G. K. & Co., 406. 
Henry, 129. 
'. F., 206. 

ohn, Jr., 58. 

ohn P., 260, 404, 446. 
John, Sr., 58. 
Levi, 260, 448, 449, 460. 
Maria, 148. 
Mary, 129. 
Nahum, 94. 
Nathaniel T. (36th Regt.), 

649. 
Persis, 176. 

Ralph, 41, 43, 48, 53, 69. 
Robert, 68. 
Silas, 465. 
Stillman, 206, 255-256, 345, 

369. 
Susan Coffin, 137. 
Warren (3d H.""Art.), 653. 
William, 188. 
HOWARD, Caleb, 366. 
Daniel M., 526. 
Eben, 529. 
Emma M., 520. 
Family, 162, 206. 
Frank. 392. 

Franklin (ist Cav.), 654. 
General O. O., 590, 592. 
George, 167, 187, 354, 366. 
George F., 366, 386, 396, 495, 

500. 
George O. (3d Cav.), 632, 

654. 
James O. (15th Regt.), 553, 

641. 
Levi, 464, 465, 466, 467, 468. 
Sarah M., 167. 
Sidney, 366. 

Sidney T., 357, 366, 386, 396. 
Mrs. S. T., 503, 523. 
HOWE or HOW, Adeline 

E., 449- „ 
Calvin. 148. 
Charles H. (36th Regt.), 600, 

650. 
Dolly Stratton, 122. 
Ebenezer W., 256-257. 
E. W., 404, 408, 461. 
G. W., 529- 
H. B., 531. 
Jasper, 461. 
Joel, 348. 
John, 156. 
Jonas E., 126, 138, 285, 331, 

352, 353, 363-364, 377, 390, 



412, 522. 
Jonas E. & Belyea,Samue!, 
^ 350, 352, 363, 364- 
Josiah, 66. 
Levi, 122. 
M., 138. 
Mary, 66. 

Willard A., 148, 186, 187. 
HOWELL, B. F., 399. 

B. F. & J. F.,399. 

JohnF.,385, 459- 
HOWES, P., 405. 
HUBBARD, George (21st 
Rest.), 643. 
Rev. O. G., 450. 
HUDSON, Robert, 128, 137. 

Robert, Jr., 128. 
HUGHES, John, 211. 
HUMPHREY, Lucena 

(Wilder) , 137. 
HUNNEMAN & Co., 289. 
HUNT, Andrew J. (15th 
Regt.), 641. 
Eliza, 449. 

Ephraim, 491, 531. • 
George W. (15th Regt.), 641. 
John, 106, 124, 158, 176, 184, 

185, 187, 527. 
Jonas. 207, 258, 350, 449, 461. 
Josiah H., 300, 414. 
Mr., 381. 
Susannah, 78. 
HUNTER, Gen., 630. 
HURLEY, G. Thomas, Jr. 

(6ist Regt.), 651. 
HUTCHINSON Family,533 
jMBODEN, Gen., John D., 
' 629. 
INGALLS, Dr. Daniel B., 
207, 253, 331, 349, 384, 442, 
443, 475, 476, 477, 528, 532, 
572. 
James, 2S5, 294, 324, 331-332, 

James Munroe, 324. 

Mary (Cass), 443. 

Samuel, 331. 

Urania E., 303. 
lACKSON, Gen. Thomas 
^ J., 560, 582. 
JACOBS, Col. John, 99. 

Gardner, 138. 

Samuel, 465. 
JAMES, Thomas, 41. 
JAMESON, Calvin (21st 

Regt.), 643. 
JAOUlTH, Amos S. (15th 

Regt.), 553,641. 
JEFTS, Albert N. (15th 

Regt.), 641. 
JENKES, Joseph, 38. 
JENKINS, Elliott, 401. 
JENKS, Ruth, 132. 

William, 131. 
JERAULD, Albert A., 383- 
384, 399, 408, 500, 534. 

A. A. Jr., 419. 

Fred G., 384. 

Stephen. 383. 
JEWETT, Benjamin, 254. 

C. F. & Co., 428. 
Charles, 341, 460. 



INDEX OF PERSONS. 



669 



Daniel, 207. 

Emeline, 461, 463. 

Family, 262. 

George H.(36th Regt.), 650. 

Horace, 221, 254-255, 260, 
270, 372. 

Mrs. Horace, 406. 

Joshua C, 493. 

Louisa E., 449. 

Marietta, 304. 

Milton, 254-255, 372-373, 501. 

Theodore, 207, 254-255, 372, 
446. 
TOCELVN, Dana I., 299. 
JOHN, One-Eyed. See Mo- 

noco. 
JOHNSON, Amos, 527. 

Edward, 41. 

Gates &, 146. 

James N. (15th Regt.), 262, 
530,531, 53^534, 553- 

Sophia C, 188. 
JOHNSTON, Gen. Joseph 

E., 559, 597, 59S. 599- 
JORDAN, Eben D., Bard- 
well & Co., 357. 

Eben D., Marsh & Co., 357. 

Rev. J. P. \V.,48q. 
JUDKINS, Rev. Benjamin, 
460. 

Mrs. S., 463. 
l/EITH & CO. ,388. 
I^ KELLEY, John (15th 
Regt.), 641, 650, 658, 659. 

Robert, 212. 

William, 212. 
KELLOGG, Ensign H., 282. 

Henry, 245, 253, 372, 412. 
KELLY, Aratus, 366. 
KENDALL, C.B., 410. 

Ezra, 188. 

George H., 260, 382-385, 399, 
408, 409,435, 447, 461. 

Mrs. G. H., 463- 

G. H., &Caldwell, J., 383. 

Hugh R., 211-212. 

Hugh R., & Co., 212. 

Joseph & Peter, 145. 

Josiah, 94. 

Mary, 80. 

Mary VV., 470. 

Otis H.. 367, 405, 470, 531. 

Phuebe, 122. 

Dr. Pierson T., 3S2, 398, 399, 
432, 434-435, 501. 

Mrs. P. r.,502. 

Sanford, 137. 

Thomas, 212. 

William B., 245. 
KENDRICK, Henry C, 356, 

,359, 442, 459, 460. 

H. C., Avery, E., &, 

Miss H. S., 463. 
KENNEY, Thomas (21st and 

53d Regts.), 643, 052. 
KERIA', William Jr., 41. 

William Sr., 41. 
KEYES, Clarissa, 127. 

Elkanah, 65. 

General E^ D., 559. 

Huldah, 65. 

John, 64-65, 66, 67, 69. 



John 2d. 65. 

Lydia, 05. 

Sarah, dr. of John Keyes, 

64, 65. 
Sarah, wife of John Keyes, 

64, 65. 
Wright S., 471, 472. 
KIDDER, Ruth, 72. 

William H. (53d Regt.), 652. 
KILBURN, Daniel W., 295, 
320, 324, 331, 407, 458, 459, 
460. 
Mrs. D. W.,463. 
Sally, 338. 
KIMBALL. Col. John W., 

546, 576, 5S6, 602, 605. 
KING, Robert (3d Cav.), 119, 
632, 654. 
S. Angenette, 303. 
Susan W., 240. 
Thomas. 35, 36,38. 
W. R.3d H. Art.), 653. 
KINGMAN, Eunice, 148. 

Susan, 148. 
KINNICUT, Thomas, 220. 
KIRCHNER. John (15th 

Regt.). 553,641. 
KITTREDGE, E. B., 531. 
James, 531. 
Martin, 136. 
KLEIN, Edward(25th RegL) 
619, 646. 
William F. (25th Regt.), 
569, 646. 
KLUESSNER, Herman, 

(25th Regt.), 646. 
KNIGHT, Alfred, 260, 285, 
367, 374, 400, 493, 435- 
Alfred, & Henry Butter- 
field, 375, 386. 
KNOWLES, Seth, 152, 154, 

155- 
KOC HLER.Carl(25thRegt.) 

6ig, 620, 646. 
KOHULE, Frederick (25th 

Regt.), 623,645. 
I ADD, Emily (Pollard), 
•-" 137- 

LA KIN, David (Navy), 656. 
LAMMLEIN, Carl (53d 

Regt.), 652. 
LAMSON, John, 356. 
LANE, Jonas, 140. 
LANGMAID, Samuel, 530. 
LARKIN, Alfred G. (4th 
Cav.), 654. 
Benjamin, 465. 
Betty, 75, 76. 
Catherine, 187. 
Family, 82, 91, 98. 129, 505- 

506. 
Hezediah, iSo. 
John, 91. 

Peter, 185, 187, 282. 
Peter 2d, 127. 
Philip, 80, 130,505. 
William, ijo, 465. 
LATHAM, Henry C. ,374,53s. 
LATHROP, Joseph, 383. 
LAWRENCE, Amos, 220. 
James S., 166, 179, 446. 
Oscar M., 429. 



Sewell D. (23d Regt.), 644. 
LAYTHE, Asa, 401. 
Oilman W. (i5th Regt.), 

360, 392, 401, 587, 641. 
Orin A. (15th Regt.), 363, 
587, 641. 
LEADBETTER, Joseph, 

119. 
LEDLIE, Gen. James H., 

627. 
LEE, Col., 550. 
Dr., 137. 
Mr., 224. 

Gen. Robert E., 560 582, 
584, 592, 593, 595, 598, 616, 
617,618, 621, 633. 
LEISURE, General, 616. 
LELAND, Harrison, 391. 

Thomas A., 477. 
LENFEST, S. A., 387. 
LEONARD, Rev. Wm. G., 

489. 
LEOPOLD, Wolfgang, 645. 
LEWIS Family, 162, 262. 
Hannah D., 490. 
Henry, 166, 171, 1S7, 260, 446, 

4S0, 481. 
Mrs. Henry, 481. 
John, 41. 

Rev. Joseph W.. 480. 
Rev. T. Willard, 294, 4S4- 

485, 490, 531- 
Dr. Winslow, 440. 
LINCOLN, Pres. Abraham, 
402, 429, 540, 541, 570, 575, 
577, 57S, 58S, 609, 633. 
Rev. C, 496. 
Dr. Henry, 279, 432, 434. 
Capt. M.,i8S 
Capt. Rufus, 98. 
Lieut. -Col. William S., 575. 
LINDHARDT, Christian, 

(25th Rest.), 566,646. 
LINNENKE.MPER, Hen- 
ry (25th Regt.), 627, 646. 
LINTELL, William, 221. 
LINTON, Richard, 38, 41. 
LIVERMORE. Rev. Leon- 
ard J., 294, 295, 304, 415, 
417, 493-7, 536, 597- 
Mrs. L. J., 502, 503. 
LOCKE, Sophia, 137. 
LOGAN, James, 329, 501. 

Mrs. James, 329. 
LOKER, Mary, 45. 
LONG. Ma.ximillian (42d N. 

Y. Re^t.), 658. 
LONGLEY, Israel, 202, 203. 

Nathaniel, 137. 
LONGSTREET, Gen. Jas., 

593, 600, 616. 
LOOMIS, Horace, 207. 
LORD, Absalom, 327, 342, 

369, 500. 

Alexander (15th Regt.), 587, 

594. 641. 
LORING, Frank M., 659. 

& Co., Fairbanks, 203. 
LOUIS, XIV, 141. 
LOVELL, Francis (3d Cav.) 
632, 654 

Frances A., 303. 



670 



INDEX OF PERSONS. 



Francis C, i46. 
LOVELASS, Jane, 330. 
LOVERING, E. M., 303. 
LOWE or LOW, Albert, 190. 
Anson, 166, 448, 449, 460. 
Augustus, 262. 
Edward, 187. 
Family, 162-164, i67i '83,189, 

262, 445^ 
Francis E., 163, 381. 
George W., 650. 
Henry, 164, 160, 171. 
Jabez, 107, 163. 
Jabez B., 187." 
John, 105, 106, III, 118, 162, 

163, 164, 166, 168, 169, 175, 

i76, 186, 187, 190, 429, 465. 
John Jr., 261, 446, 449, 531- 
Lorinda, 449. 
Martha, 166, 429. 
Mary, 449. 
Capt. Nathaniel of Ipswich, 

162. 
Nathaniel 2d of Leominster, 

162. 
Nathaniel 3d, 107, 140, 145, 

163, 166, 179, 1S3, 184, 185, 

186, 187, 344, 465. 
Polly, 162. 
Theodore E. (15th Regt.), 



587, 641. 
. hon 



Thomas, 166. 
LOWELL, John, 525. 
LOWRIE, George M., 327, 
328, 531. 
Wilham (2d H. Art.), 32S, 
653- 
LUND, Mark, 352, 359. 
LUNT, Lucy D., 261. 
LYLE, Alexander (15th 

Regt.), 560, 641. 
LYMAN, George W., 213, 

220. 
LYON Family, 189. 
Lorenzo D., 390, 395, 408. 
Capt. Thomas W., 105, 140, 
144-145, 151, 155- 169, 179, 
186. 187, 527. 

McBRIDE, Abigail, 148. 
Sarah^ 148. 
McCAFFERTY, Major 

Matthew J., 564. 
McCALL, General George 

A., 549. 
McCLELLAN,Gen. George 

B., 548, 549, 559, 560, 561, 

562, 582,583.584,585,588. 
McCLOSKEY, Archbishop, 

McCOLLUM or McCOL- 
LOM Family, 162. 
Haskell, 166, 260, 286, 355, 
369, 447, 448, 449, 460, 530. 
Mary F., 303. ^ 

Sylvia, 449. 
McCURDY.W. Atwood,39i. 
Mcdonald, Margaret J., 

Mcdowell, Gen. Irvln, 

548. 

McGEACHEY,Joseph(36th 
Regt.), 659. 



McGEE, Patrick (36th 

Regt.), 650. 
McGRATH, Henry (36th 

Regt.). 599,650. 
McINTYRE & Day, 374. 
McKAY, Donald, 378. 
MACKERELL, Alexander 

(Navy), 656. 
McNAMARA, John J., 517- 
518. 
Michael J. (9th Regt.), 638. 
Timothy, 517. 
McNABB, John (Navy),656. 
McNEAL. Theodore, 344. 
McNULTY, James (3d 

Bat.), 544, 652. 
McQUAlD, John, 519. 
Patrick, 519. 
Samuel, 519. 
Thomas A., 51Q. 
Mrs. Thomas A., 519. 
McROBIE, John (21st 

Regt.) ; 583, 644. 
MACULLAR, A., 405. 
MACURDA, W. A., 396, 

397, 472, 477- 
McWAIN, Andrew, 129. 
MADISON, Pres.James,i5o. 
MADDEN, John (42d N. Y. 
Regt.), 658. 
Thomas (42d N. Y. Regt.), 
658. 
MAGGI, Lieut.-Col. Albert 

c, 563, 565, 567- 

MAGRUDER, Gen. John 

B., 560. 
MAHAR, Dennis (21st 

Regt.), 644. 
MAKEPEACE, Hiram(i5th 

Regt.),385, 387, 642. 
MALCOLM, William, 460. 
MaLEY, John (Navy), 656. 
MALLALIEU, Rev. Wil- 

lard F., 486-487. 
MALLEY, Edward (15th 

Regt.), 640. 
MALONY, Patrick (21st 

Regt.) 5S3. 644. 
MALONEY, Thomas, 659. 
M A LOY, Edward (24th Regt) 
570, 645. 
Patrick (34th Regt.), 648. 
Thomas (21st and 34th 
Regts.), 644, 648. 
MANN, Birney, 472. 

Horace, 500. 
MANNING, Samuel, 431. 
MANSFIELD, Gen. J. K. 

F.. 585. 
MARLOW, Sarah, 330. 
MARS, Rev. J. N., 489. 
MARSH, Daniel, 472, 477, 
528. 
Jordan &, 357. 
MARSHALL, Asaph R., 
383, 407-408, 460. 
Herman A., 659. 
Tames (26th Regt.), 647. 
John E.. 365. 
I. H., 405, 530. 
Col. Thomas, 99, 
. Elder Thomas, 465, 466. 



T. H., 405. 
MARTIN, Michael (36th 
Regt.), 617, 650. 

N. C, 471, 472. 
MARVIN, Rev. A. P., 33, 

MAT'^ilkw, 55. 
MATTHEWS, Joseph, 659. 
MATTOON, Chauncey S. 

(15th Rest.), 640. 
MAYNARD, Caleb, 137. 
Calvin, 528. 

Camden, 163, 493, 495, 530. 
James F., 175, 286, 392, 483, 

491,572. 
Mrs.J.F., 483, 573- 
John, 527. 
Susannah, 128. 
Waldo B. (15th Regt.), 587, 
642. 
MEADE, Gen. Geof-ge G., 
592, 595,615 617. 618,621. 
MEANS, Col. David, 240. 

Eliza Frances, 240. 
MEEHAN, Patrick (21st 

Reo;t.),5S3, 618, 644. 
MERRIAM, C. A. & Co., 

395- 
Miss A. S.. 394. 
MERRIFIELD, Wm. T., 
221, 253-254, 263, 360, 363, 
410, 452, 461. 
MERRILL, John P., 493. 
Rev. Daniel K., 481, 486. 
Rev. Joseph A., 480. 
MERRIMAN, Rev. Daniel, 

D. D., 240. 
MESSENGER, F. C, 415, 
416, 493- 
F.C., Ballard, E., &, 388. 
MESSIER, Enos (34th 

Regt.), 631. 648. 
MILES, Samuel T., 387. 
MILLER, Charles, 166, 449. 
MINER, Dwight (36th 
Regt.), 650. 
Hiram, 331. 
Joseph E. (15th Regt.), 587, 

642. 
Sarah C, 303. 
MOLTER, Henry (25th 

Regt.), 646. 
MONOCO, 55, 56. 
MONROE, John, 659. 
MONTCALM, Marquis de, 

90. 
MOORE, Abijah, 76. 
Achsah (Houghton), 137. 
Charles H., 3S5. 
Charles W.(53d Regt.), 472, 

606,651. 
Charlotte, 148. 
Cornelius, 465, 466, 467. 
Capt. David, 99, 100. 
George W., 387, 427. 
Henry, 465. 
John, 58, 59, 80. 
Lucy, 80. 
Oliver, 465. 
Phinehas, 221. 
Sally, 126. 
& Fanning, David H., 385. 



INDEX OF PERSONS. 



671 



MORAN, Timothy, 208, S06. 
MORGAN, Abigail, 470. 

Cliarles H., 206, 460. 

Eneas, 295, 329, 371, 501. 

Harriet, 470. 

Helen F., 299. 

Hiram, 206, 207, 44S, 449, 
454, 455- 458, 460. 

Mrs. Hiram, ^63. 

James A. (36tli Regt.), 304, 
324, 329, 650. 

Lucina L., 449. 

Lucretia S., 303, 463. 

Mary A.. 34S. 

Paul C. (2d N. H. Regt.), 
657. 

Philip L., 2S6, 334, 328-329, 
369, 495- 

Polly, 470. 
MORSE, Col. Augustus, 563, 
565. 

Burrill, 396. 

Ebenezer. 438. 

Esther (Crafts), 438. 

George F., 438. 

Dr. George M., 263, 268,272, 
294, 29S, 369, 371, 410, 432, 

, 437-439, 528, 543, 587- 

L. G., 5^4. 

George W., 360, 414. * 

Harriet C, 299. 

Rev., 467. 

S. F. & Co., 195. 

Wilson, 365, 399, 476. 
MORTON, Maria, 256. 
MOULTON, Charles H. 
_(2ist Regt.), 621, 644. 

Lieut. -Coi. Orson, 621. 

Rev. Horace, 481. 
MUIR, George (15th Regt.), 

642. 
MULLENS, Blake, 148. 
MULLER, August (25th 
Regt.), 646. 

Franz (25th Regt.) , 619, 646. 

Valentine (25th Regt.), 646. 
MUNGER,Charlotte H.,304. 
MUNROE, J., 195. 

John, 559. 
MUNSON, N.C., 166. 
MURPHY, Caroline B., 327. 

Cornelius, 659. 

Lawrence, 518. 

Martin, ist, 518. 

Martin, 2d. 518. 

Patrick, 518. 

Thomas (Navy), 656. 

Thomas, siS. 
MUTTAU'MP, 56. 
" •EEDHAM, Henry, 327. 



James, 327. 493 



N _ 

Jahies A. (34th"Regt.), 327, 
631, 632, 648. 
NEIL, John, 256. 
NEWELL, Rev. E. P., 480. 
NEWELL or NEWHALL, 

Michael, 524, 525, 527. 
NEWHALL, Sally, 148. 
NEWMAN, G. B., 107. 

Mary Ann, 384. 
NEWTON, Isaac, 200. 

Mr., 145. 



Samuel, 115, 116. 

Mrs. .Samuel, 116. 
NICHOLAS, George S. (4th 

Cav.), 533, 655. 
NICHOLS, Abijah, 207, 449. 

Mary E., 449. 

Sarah A., 303. 

W.N. ,377. 
NORCROSS, Nathaniel, 36, 
38. 

Polly, 148. 
NOURSE, Henry S., 33, 298, 
403, 405, 432. 

Mary (Pollard), 137. 

& Blood, 405, 
NOYES, Rev. Charles, 313. 

Thomas, 48. 

W. S., 396. 
NUGENT, Felix, 516-517, 

WiUiam H., 385, 517. 
Pj'BRIEN, Mary(Mrs. Pat- 
^-^ rick O'Connor), 517. 

Dr. P. T.. 257, 404. 
0-CONNELL. Daniel, 506. 
O'CONNOR, Patrick, 517. 
Thomas, 517. 
Dr. Thomas H., 517. 
O'KEEFE, Daniel, 513, 
Rev. Dennis. 513-514. 
Mary, 413. 
OGDEN, Thos. (53d Regt.) 

652. 
OLCOTT, Hervey B. (15th 
Regt.) 5S7. 594- 642. 
Hiram W. (36th Regt.), 625, 
649. 
ORl), Gen. E. O. C..633. 
()DIORNE,Chas. W., 528. 
ORNE, David J. (2d Regt.), 

637- 
ORR, James, A54, 460. 
Robert (53d Regt.), 419, 420, 

454, 603, 604, 606, 652. 
WiUiam Jr. (36th Regt.), 

460, 651. 
William ^r., 327. 
Wilder &, 387. 
OSGOOD, Edward C, 257. 
George F. (15th Regt.), 587, 

594, 642. 
Jane, 393- 
Marv Ann, 449. 
Otis S. (15th Regt.), 587, 642. 
Samuel, 207, 257, 393, 435. 
O'REILLY, Rev.Patrick T., 

511-512. 513. 
O'TOOLE, Michael (9th 

Regt.), 6^,8. [See Toole.] 
OTTERSON, Chas. A., 332. 
Henry N., 332, 357- 
James, 232, 323. 
John A., 332, 399. 
Jotham D., 260, 268, 272, 
273, 277, 321, 323, 409, 410, 
452. 453, 459, 460, 530. 
OWENS. Elizabeth S., 299. 
Patrick (5 -,d Regt.), 606,652. 
PACKARD, Rev. Asa, 446. 
* Rev. Charles, 263, 446, 447, 
450. 451. 
I PAINE,Gen, C. J., 606. 



Rev. W. P.. 451. 
PALFREY, Col. F. W., 643. 
PALMER, Doctor, 441. 

Edward (36th Regt.), 650. 

George W, (2d H. Art.), 653. 

Oilman M. (Col.). 285, 289, 
328, 350, 352-354, 369, 371,, 
441, 501, 528, 530, 534, 542, 
544, 572. 

Oilman M., & Parker, J. B., 
247, 347, 350. 
PARK, Beulah A., 303. 
PARKE, Gen. J. G., 565. 
PARKER, Ann, 14S. 

Artemas H., 212, 268, 400, 
447, 449, 460. 

Edmund. 41. 

Eliza. 258. 

Elizalseth S., 449. 

Mrs. Emily, 462. 

Harold, loS. 

Henrietta E., 300. 

Isadore, 299. 

Joseph B., 207, 232, 252, 260, 
272, 285, 286. 323, 328, 315, 
348-351, 352, 353, 365, 369, 
398, 409, 410, 446, 447, 448, 
449, 450, 452, 453, 454, 459, 
460, 530. 

Mrs. J. B., 463. 

Joseph B. & Co., 347. 

Joseph B. and Levi Greene, 
365. 

Joseph B. and G. M. Pal- 
mer, 247, 347, 350. 

Mary, 148. 

Mary A., 449. 

Wm. W., 294, 331, 457, 458, 
459, 460, 530. 

Mrs. W. W., 463. 

Susan, 461. 

Rev. Theodore, 236. 
PARKHURST, .4da M., 

Betsy L., 347. 

C. F. W., 204, 295, 344, 347- 

348, 458, 460. 
Rev. Chas. H., 305, 347, 383. 
Ephraim, 347. 
Howard E.,'347. 
Wellington E., 347, 357, 39°, 
418, 420-421, 460. 
PARNELL, J.C, 207. 
PARSONS, James C., 186, 

207, 259, 528, 529- 
PATTEN, Charles S., 253, 

285, 493, 500. 
PATTERSON, Dea. James, 

. 352, 357-358, 439, 460, 482. 
PAUL, Maria M., 429. 
PEA BODY, Rev., 446. 
PEASE, Henry C. (26th 
Regt.), 647. 
Mary E., 304. 
Mrs., 399- 
PEIRCE or PIERCE, A. 
H., 395, 405. 
Pres. Franklin, 427. 
George W., 261. 
Hervey. 190. 
Joel, 465. 
Josiah, 137. 



672 



INDEX OF PERSONS. 



Mary, 148. 
Walter W., 389. 



f; 



Rev. Nathan, 



William N., 212, 371, 377, 

385. 397, 399-400, 405, 40S" 

460, 531. 
& Howell. J. F., 385. 
PEMBERTON.Gen., J. C, 

597, 598. 
PERKINS, 

307- 
PERRY, George W, (36th 

Reet.), 459, 460, 589. 649. 
PEVEY, Amos A., 442, 528. 

B. M., 442. 

C. K., 442. 
Family, 389. 
Frank M., 442. 
Miss C. L., 463. 

PHELPS, Abigail, 1S2. 
Rachel, 147. 
Robert Sr., 147. 
Robert, 105, 140, 147, 169, 
187. 529- 
PHILIP, King, 55. 
PHILLIPS, Josiah S., 298. 
PICKETT, Colonel, 619, 620, 
621. 

General, 593. 
PICK.MAN, Benjamin, 155. 

Benjamin T., 155, 156. 
PIKE, Rev. John, 64. 
PINDER,Calvin(2istRegt.) 

601, 644. 
PITTS, Esek, 140. 
Family, 159-161, 217, 21S. 
Hiram W., 160, 161, 180, 221, 

260. 
James, 123, 130, 133, 143, 148, 
159, 160, 186, 18^, 191,216. 
James Jr., 160, 101, 175, 177, 

221, 260, 503, 529. 
Lucinda, 503. 
Seth G.. 160, 161, 221, 503. 
Susan B., 503. 
William, 160, 161, 221, 503. 
PLANT, Alfred, 158. 
Family, 189. 
George Poignand, 157. 
Samuel, 141-143, 148, 150, 
151, 152, 153, 154, 156-158, 
187. 
Samuel, and Poignand, Da- 
vid, 114, 118, 381, 382, 385. 
Samuel Jr., 158. 
William, 158. 
PLATTS, Mary, 34. 
PLUMMER, Charles, 539. 

Farnham, 165, 465. 
PLYMPTON, A. H., 207. 

Miss, 179. 
POIGNAND, David, 140- 
143, 150, 151, 153, 154, 156, 
186, 187. 
David, & Samuel Plant, 14, 
108, no, 114, 118, 139-158, 
171, 186, 287, 382, 385, 468. 
Delicia Amiraux, 141. 
Delicia M., 142, 143. 
Louisa Elizabeth, 150. 
POLLARD, Amory, 163,187. 
Charles, 137. 



Elizabeth, 129. 

Emily, 130, 162. 

Family, 162. 

Gardner. 129-130, 137, 138, 
145, 178. 179, 181, 337- 

H. A., 268, 374, 410, 460. 

John, 129, 130. 

Leonard, 126, 465. 

Levi, 130, 167. 

Lucy, 137. 

Mr., 332. 

Samuel B., 471, 472. 
POMFRET, Wm. J., 487. 
POMPOWEAGAN, 49. 
POPE, Gen. John, 561, 570, 



582, 583. 

)R': — 



PORTER, Gen. Fitz John, 

558, 560. 
POWELL, James Jr. (Navy) 

656. 
POWERS, James, 427- 
John, 465. 
William, 526. 
PRATT, Abiiah, 105, 109. 
Capt. C. Alden, 358. 
Betsy, 1S7, 188. 
Capt. Elias, 98. 
Ebenezer, 124, 171, 186. 187, 

260. 
Family, 262. 

George {34th Regt.), 648. 
Joel, 527. 

Maj. James A., 602. 
John M., 529. 
Nelson L. A. (15th Regt.), 

642. 
Orin (34th and 53d Regts.), 

648, 652. 
Salome, 261. 
PRENTICE, Dr. Stanton, 

89. 
Rev. John, 444. 
PRESCOTT, Dorothy, dr. 

Dr. John Prescott 3d, 68. 
Dorothy, dr. John Prescott 

4th, 71. 
Dorothy, wife John Pres- 
cott 3d, 67, 70. 
Ebenezer, 61, 64, 66, 69, 70. 
Elizabeth, 61. 
Ellen. 34. 
Eunice, 72, 96. 
Family, 33-76, 81, 92, 96, 102, 

105-109, 116, 140, 158, 177, 

179, 431, 444- 
Hannah, 45, 63. 
Jabez, 72, 106, 107, 109, 113, 

162. 
Sir James, 34. 
Jerome, 61. 
John ist, the Pioneer, 33-60, 

61, 70. 71,75,79,93,90, 113, 

117, 140, 145, 168, 191, 270, 
John 2d, 45, 51, 52, 53, 59, 

61-7 69. 
John 3d, 61, 64, 65, 66, 67-71, 

74, 75- 
John 4th, 68. 71-72, n^ 76, 

92, 94, 95, 100, loi, 105, 106, 

364, 378. 
Capt. John, 5th, 72, 92, 95, 

97, 98, 105, 106, 107, 108, 140, 



158, 162, 177, 184, 185, 186, 

187, 527- 
Jonas, son of John ist, 45, 

46, 49, 61. 
Jonas, son of John 4th, 72, 

80, 95, q6, 98, 108. 524, 525. 
Capt. John of Concord, 79. 
Jonathan, son of John ist, 

45, 50, 51, 52, 53, 58, 59, 61, 

63- 
Jonathan, son of John 4th, 

72, 103, 105, 106, 107, 108, 

164. 
Joseph, 63, 72, 103, 106, 107. 
Lydia, dr. Jonn ist, 45, 53. 
Martha, 44. 
Mary, dr. John ist, 44, 53, 

75- , 
Mary, dr. John 2d, 61, 63, 69. 
Mary, dr. John 3d, 68. 
Mary, dr. John 4th, 71. 
Mary, wife Jonas, 16, 72, 46. 
Mary, wife John ist, 51. 
Mary, wife John 2d, 66. 
Mary, wife John 4th, 68. 
Mary (Ballard), wife John 

5th, 72, 108. 
Rachel, 70. 
Ralph, 34. 
Rebecca, 72, 96. 
Ruth, 72. 
Samuel, 63, 64. 
Sarah, dr. John ist, 45, 53. 
Sarah, dr. John 2d. See 

Keyes, Sarah. 
Sarah, wife John 2d, 66. 
Three generations of, 61. 
Tabitha, dr. John 3d, 68, 74, 

Col.' William, 46, 96. 

William H., 46. 
PRICE, Mary A., 268, 303. 
PRIEST, Francena, 137. 

R. F., 303. 
PROCTER, Edward, 525. 
PUMMONNOMMON, 49. 
PUTNAM, Geo. T. D. (15th 
Regt.), 642. 

Henry A. (isth Regt.), 553, 
639- 

Wm. H., 391, 393, 472. 

QUANAPAUG, see Quan- 
napohit. 
QUANNAPOHIT, orjames 

Wiser, 48, 55, 56, 
QUINCY, Josiah Jr., 220. 
QUINN Family, 149, 506. 
John (21st Regt.), 5S3, 601, 
622. 644. 
RADFORD, Wm. (Navy), 

r^ 656. 

RAND, Mr., 425. 

Nathaniel, 156, 201, 211. 

Nathaniel & Damon, 204. 
RANDALL, Rebecca N., 

RAUS'CHER, George. 619. 
Sergt. Philip (25th Regt.), 
620. 
RAWSON, Edward, 50. 
RAYMOND, Edward A., 

156, 2It. 



INDEX OF PERSONS. 



673 



RAVMORE, J. H., 38S. 
REED, Abigail, 176. 
Anna, 128. 

Frederick (Navy), 657. 
Capt. James, 91. 
& Co., Tames, 356. 
REEKIE, David(i5th Regt.) 

642. 
REEVES, Eliza Elmira, 425. 

Emma L., 303. 
KEID, Thos. W. (53d Reg:t.) 

606, 652. 
REIDLE, Albin(25th Regt.) 

646. 
REISCHER, Philip (25th 

Reet.),623, 645. 
REMINGTON, Jonathan, 

RENNER, Charles R. (21st 

Regt.), 5S7, 601, 62S, 643. 
RENO, Gen. J. L., 563, 565, 

^66, 56S, 582. 
REYNOLDS, Gen. John F., 
592. 
Michael J. (Navy), 657, 
REVERE, Paul, 525. 
RICE, Abel, 117,285,367. 
A. C. & Co., 385. 
Ale.xander H., 239. 
Benjamin F., 345, 367. 
Betsy, iSS. 
David, 117. 
Edwin N., 262, 367. 
Emily, 124. 
Ezekiel, 114, 117, 118, 140, 

169, 1S6. 
Family, 45, 262. 
Rev. Gardner, 4S1. 
Harriet A„ 300. 
Joseph, 76, 116-118,124, 145, 
150, 151, 170, 171, 175, 186, 
187, 345. 367- 
Joseph ist (1676), 45. 
Joseph Jr., 117,124,207,260, 

290, m. 471- 
Josiah, 465. 
Maj. Merrick, 131, 526. 
Mrs. Joseph, 117. 
Nathaniel, 117, 121, 260, 345, 

360, 362, 367, 449. 
N., Fuller, S. T., &, 2S9. 
Samuel I., 137. 
Zebulon, 116. 
RICH, Benjamin, 153, 154, 

155- 
RICHARD, Albert (Navy), 

657. 
RICHARDSON, Gen., 585. 
Sally 148. 
Sevvall, 535. 
RIDER, Franklin (Navy), 

RIG&Y, John, 58, 62-63. 
RILEY, Timothy (Navy), 

657. 
RING, Benjamin, 394, 401, 

408,472,475- 
John H., 393, 394, 395, 532, 

578. 
Sanford B., 401. 
RIPLEY, Winifred S. 

(Navy), 657. 

45 



ROBBINS. Daniel, 94. 
ROBERTS, E.G., 211. 

Thomas (53d Regt.), 606, 
652. 
ROBINSON, George D. 
(Gov.) , 380, 393. 

Henry S. (36tn Reet.), 356, 
359, 459, 600, 649, 657. 

Horace \V., 391. 

James R., 359, 461. 

James R. & H. S., 359, 413. 

Thomas (Navy), 657. 
ROCHE, John A., 305, 520. 

Dr. Thomas F., 520. 

William, 519-520. 
ROE, Mrs. H. B., 391. 
ROGERS, Christopher, 657. 
ROLLINS, L. B., 406. 
ROOPER, John, 58. 

Widow. 58. 
ROSMAN, Geo. (42d Regt.) 

653- 
ROSMAS, Charles (Navy) 

657. 
ROSS, Deborah'H., 174. 

Ellen M., 268. ' 
ROWLANDSON, Mrs. Jos- 
eph, 56. 
Rev. Joseph, 47, 53. 
Rev. Thomas, 444. 
ROWELL, Artemas, 490. 

John H., 4S5, 49o,'49i. 
ROVE. George (Navy), 657. 
ROYEL, Mary Magdalene, 

141. 
RUGG, Adolphia, 263. 
Arnold, 164. 
Hannah. See Prescott, 

Hannah. 
John, 44, 45, 59. 
Joseph, 63. 
Martha. See Prescott, 

Martha. 
Sally. 148. 
RUGGLES, Col. Timothy, 

91- 
RUSSELL, Laura, 423. 
T. H., 399; 
T. W., 392- 

William E. (Gov.), 380. 
RYAN, Charles, 405, 410, 472, 

531- 
RYDER, Charles G. (15th 

Regt.), 530^622,639. 
CALLAWAY, Henry, 499. 
'--' Rev. James, 499-500. 
SAM, Sagamore. See Sho- 

shanim. 
SAMPSON, B. E.,493. 
Jonathan, 121. 
Lowe, & Reed, 307. 
Reverend. 467. 
SANDERSON, David, 207. 

W. S., 207. 
SARGENT, Eliza, 521. 
George E., 653. 
Henry B. (15th Regt. and 

2d H. Art.), 642, 653. 
Ignatiu'^, 220. 

Renzo B. (2d H. Art.), 653. 
Richard Jr., no, 184. 
Richard Sr., 107, 109, 159, 



c- '79,- 

Stephen, 109, no, 124, 128, 
138, MO, 148, 159, 169, 218, 
221, 465. 
Thomas, 465. 
SAWTELL or SAW- 
TELLE Family, 162. 
Joel, 167, 344.1 
SAWYER, Aaron, 71, 75, 92- 



.93, 94. 113- 
Vchs 



Achsa, 76. 

Artemas, 76, 113. 

Asa, 136. 

Augustus J., 294, 357, 493, 

495, 500. 
A. L., 528, 529. 
Betsy, 115, 116, 171, 175. 
Betty, 76, 80, 126. 
Caleb, 212, 257. 
Charles, 362, 
Charlotte, 121. 
C. K., 4^7, 448, 449, 460. 
Edmund H., 361. 
Eh, 25, 130. 
Mrs., Eh, 130. 
Elias (1705), 75. 
Ehas (1745), 73- 
Ehas (1796), 131, 158, 159, 

177. 
Elijah, 529. 
Eliza H., 449, 461. 
Ephraim, 56, 57. 
Ezra, 76, n5-ii6, 122, 145, 

186, 207, 221, 254, 260, 268, 
271, 272, 273, 277, 285, 286, 
360-361, 369, 400, 410, 427, 

.^493, 530- 

Ezra Jr., 361. 

Family, 44, 74-76, 81, 92, 116, 
206, 262, 360,399, 431. 

irank, 130. 

Genealogy, 75-76. 

George, 187. 

George E. (25th and 60th 
Regts.) , 646, 653. 

Henry O., 402. 

J., 107.3 

James, 52. 

John, 76. 

Jonathan (25th Regt.), 569, 
644. 

Joseph ist, 75. 

Joseph 2d, 68, 7^, 75. 

son of Moses,_76. 

Joseph, T., 531. 

Joseph T., 449, 461, 531. 

Katy, 76. 

Lucena, 76, 127. 

Lucy, 491. 

Luke, 122, 254, 360. 

Capt. Manassen, 97, 98. 

Mary, 121. 

Mary C,, 460. 

Mary E., 14^.9. 

Mary H., 76. 

Mary (wife or Moses Saw- 
yer) , 75, 76. 

Mira J., 303. 

Molley, 76. 

Moses Sr., 68, 71, 75, 8r, 90, 
91, 92, 95, 99, 103, 105, 106, 
107, 113-116, 117, 121, 122 



6/4 



INDEX OF PERSONS. 



127, 140, 162, 17I1 i79i 184. 

221, 257- 
Moses Jr., 76, 113-114, 117, 

118, 169. 
Nancy H,, 449. 
Nathaniel, 76, 90, 157. 
N. Chandler, 393. 
O. F., 396. 
OHver. 207. 
Peter Jr., 114, 257. 
Peter Sr., 76, 114-115, 117, 

121-122, 145, 170, 257, 360. 
Phineas, 71. 
Rufus, 128. 
Ruth, 158. 
Sally, 185, 1S7. 
Sally (dr. of Moses), 114. 
Samuel, iSS. 
Capt. Samuel, gS. 
Sarah, 78. 

Sarah (ar. of Joseph ist) , 75. 
Sarah (dr. of Moses Sr.) , 76. 
Sarah (Goss), 137. 
T., igo. 
Tabitha. (See Prescott, 

Tabitha), 71. 
T B., 447. 

Thomas ist, 43, 44, 58, 59, 75. 
Thomas 2d, 58, 59, 74. 
Thomas, 212, 360, 399. 
William, 366. 
& Brother, 384-385. 
SCANLON, Chaplain, 



■.i»- 



549, 



SCHLEITER, Diedrich 

(31st Regt.), 64^ 
SLADER or DIEDRICH. 
SCHUSSER, Joseph [ErJ 
(25th Regt.), 620, 623, 64b. 
SCHWAM, Ferdinand (25th 

Regt.). 566, 646. 
SCIDMORE, Thomas, 38. 
SCOTT, Rev. Orin, 480. 
SEARS, Rev. Barnas, 134. 
Rev. Edmund H., 261, 445, 
492, 498, 502. 
SEAVER, George, 356. 
SEDGWICK, Gen. John, 
^ 558, 559, 585, 586. 
SEVERY Family, 121-122. 
John Sr., 121. 
John Jr., 122. 
PhcEbe 122 
SHAKESPEARE, William, 

^10. 
SHAW, John (7th Regt.), 637. 
John Jr. (7th Regt.), 637. 
John H., 272. 
SHEDD, Charles H„ 304, 
326. 
Henry, 326. 
SHEEHAN, Dora, 515. 

John, 123, 515-516. 
SHERIDAN, Gen. Philip 

H., 616, 631-632. 
SHERMAN, Charles B.,481. 
James. 482. 
Mrs. Charles B., 481. 
Gen. Wm. T., 5g8, 620, 626, 
62g, 630. 
SHOLAN, 35, 55. 
SHOSHANIM, 55, 56. 



SHOWANON. SeeSholan. 
SHUTE, Sarah, 175. 
SIBLEY, John (Navy), 657. 

T. F., 477- 
SICKLES, Gen. Daniel E., 

593- 
SIGEL, Gen. Franz, 629, 630. 
SIMPSON, Henry M., 245, 

SKfLLENGER, Ellen, 391. 
SLATER, Samuel, 146, 147. 
SLEEPER, W. N..399. 
SMALLEY, Rev. E., 451. 
SMITH, Albert H., 207, 350, 
Alfred (15th Regt.), 587, 642. 
Augustus E. (5th Regt. and 
2d H. Art.), 392, 534,651, 
653. 
B. R., 286, 391, 399, 460. 
Mrs. B. R., 463. 
David, 207, 255. 
Francis E.(i5th Regt.), 561, 

642, 
George P., 369, 384, 392-394, 
398, 427, 437, 472, 475, 476, 
477- 
G. P., & Greeley, H.C., 408. 
Mrs. G. P., 473, 
George W. (5th Regt. and 

2d H. Art.), 651, 653. 
James (36th Regt.), 599, 649. 
John, 194. 
John (15th Regt.), 553, 557. 

594, 642. 
Jonathan. 524, 526, 527. 
Col. Jonathan, 98. 
Joseph C, 327, 531- 
Mrs. Laura, 376. 
Lucy, 74- 
Orlando A., 390-391, 393, 

394, 408, 472. 
Richard, 41. 
Thomas C, 156, 157. 
Gen. W. F., 621, 622, 624. 
S MIT HEY, Michael, 207. 
SNELLING, S. G., 203, 
SNOW, Alpheus F., 423. 

Dr. W. N.. 386, 441. 
SOUTHWqCK. Eben, 124. 
SPAFFORD, Benj. P., 375. 
SPAULDING, Rev. Newell 

S,, 485, 486. 
SPEISSER, Christian (20th 
Regt.), 643. 
Gottiried (25th Regt.), 625, 

646. 
Gottfried C, (20th Regt.), 

643- 
SPENCER, Rev. George S. 
G., 469. 
Jonas H. (15th Regt.), 642. 
SPRAGUE family, 109. 
Augustus B. R., 564. 
John, 107, no, 140. 
Samuel John. 140. 
STANLEY, Calvin, 285, 328, 

STA]^'r^ARD,Gen.G.J.,62i. 
STAUSS, Lewis (53d Regt.) 

STEARNS, Col. Abijah, 97. 

Amos, 359, 460, 531. 



Amos E. (25th Regt.), 531, 
620, 646. 

Elizabeth C, 304. 

George F. (25th Regt.), 
623, 645. 

Helen M., 300. 

Ira, 190. 

Josiah, 501. 

Martha A., 29g, 304. 

Mary F., 303, 304, 439- 

Ruth (Hunt), 501. 

Sally (or Lucy), 137. 

Sophia, 188. 

Dea. William, 286, 292, 367, 
405, 439, 493, 495, 501-502. 

Mrs. William, 501, 502, 503. 
STEBBINS, Rev. Milan C, 

299-300, 
STEVENS, Charles G., 260, 
268, 272, 273, 277, 279, 285, 
286, 295, 368, 369, 370, 371, 
385,399, 410, 411, 412, 413, 
422-425, 426, 429, 437, 440, 
528, 577, 578, 634-^36- 

Mrs. Chas. G., 424, 463, 573. 

Cyprian, 58, 60. 

Col. Edward G., 

Godfrey, 422. 

Josiah, 422. 

Paran, 422. 

Thaddeus, 236. 
STEVENSON, Galen L., 
207. 

Peter, 258. 
STEWART, A. T„33i. 

James R., 208, 359, 369, 409, 
410, 461, 530, 531- 

Luther E. (21st Regt.), 587, 
601,622, 644. 
STILES, John C, 208, 374- 



423- 



375, 404, 
TL 



STrLLWELL,Elias M., 272. 
STOCKING,Alexander, 532. 
STONE, Abel, 119. 
Achsah, 121, 364. 
Anna, 117, 121. 
Mrs. Anna Barnes (Mrs. 

Jacob), 120. 
A. P., 265. 
Mrs. Betsy. 449, 461. 
,.Gen. Charles P., 548, 549, 

550,558. ■-' 

Christopher C. (Major, 

Judge), 116, 174, 262, 305, 

353, 362-363, 376, 542, 544. 

572, 574,501, 530, 531, 534- 
Eliza (Burdett), 362. 
Ellen E., 25S. 
Family, 262. 
Isaac, iiS, 119. 
Jacob, 117, 118-121, 360, 364. 
Jacob 2d, 119. 

James, 119, 121, 174, 175, 260, 
. 360, 362. 
Tames H., 207, 530. 
Joseph, 119, 120, 360. 
Keziah, iiS. 
Lois M., 470. 
Louis L. (60th Regt.), 362, 

653- 
Martha, 122. 
Mary H., 304. 



INDEX OF PERSONS. 



675 



Oliver, iig, 121, 221, 360, 

362, 376, 470- 471. 476. 
Deacon Simon ist, 118. 
Deacon Simon, iiS. 
STOWE, AbbieH.,303. 
STRATTUN, H., 261. 
STRINGHAM, Commodore 

S. H., 565. 
STUART, Eliza J., 365- 

Sarah M., 391. 
STURGIS, Gen. S. D., 587, 

590. 
SULLY, Gen. Alfred, 592. 
SUMNER, Charles, 307, 580. 
Gen. Edwin V., 559, ^60, 

585, 586, 5S9, 590, 591- 
Royer, 53. 
SUSS, Michael (25th Regt.), 

625, 646. 
SWAIN, Louise M., 303. 
SWAN, Charles L., 245, 253, 

294. 323. 369. 370, 371, 372, 
426, 459, 460, 578, 659. 

Mrs. C. L., 463. 
Charles, 371. 
Rutha Lassell, 371. 
SWEDENBORG, Emanuel, 

SWE^T, H. N., 161, 493, 
528, 529- 
Newton, 161. 
SYMMES, Caleb T., 478. 

iohn, 525. 
lary, 71. 
SYMONDS, Dr. George W., 

295, 390, 431. 432. 435-436, 
472, 53°- 

Henry, 35, 36, 38. 

& King, Thomas, 36, 38. 
TALBOT, Gov. Thomas, 
' 380. 

TAPPAN, Lewis, 155. 
TAYLOR, Herbert D. (15th 
Regt.), 639. 

Isaac, 361. 

Rev. J. L., 451. 

William, 260. 
TEMPLE, Mr., 194. 

Parney, 128. 
THAYER, Eli, 424, 539. 

E. V. R., 64. 

Rev. Nathaniel, 88, 104, 150, 
173, 1S7, 444. 445- 

Madame Nathaniel, 156,444. 
THISSELL. Horace k.,^o. 

Joshua, 286, 295, 357, 379- 
380, 413, 475, 476, 477, 493. 

Joshua, Sr., 379. 

Prudence (Wood) , 379. 
THOMAS, Moses. 527. 
THOMPSON. Abigail, 148. 

Dr. J. L. S., 432,434. 
Eliza, 148. 
THOMSON, Benjamin, 105. 

G. S., 531. 

Sumner, 290. 

Thomas, 533. 
THOREAU. Henry D., 411. 
THORNDIKE, Israel, 152, 

153- 
THURMAN, Charles (34th 
Regt.), 648. 



Charles H. (53d Regt.), 605, 

THURSTON, Charles, 188. 

George L., 527, 52S. 

John G., 150, 165, 171, 279, 
280, 381, 382, 527- 

Peter, 187. 

Rebecca, 74. 

Silas, 136, 187, 18S, 189, 279. 

W. S., 373- 
TIDD, Elizabeth E., 304. 

Charles Plummer, 538-539, 
566. 
TIMMINS, Henry, 219, 220. 
"TINDY, Cuff," 123. 
TINKHAM, L. B., 472, 481, 
482, 532. 

Mrs. L. B., 481. 
TIRRELL, Nathan, 261. 
TOBEY, Dr. G. L., 432. 
TODD, Polly, 147. 

Stephen, 396. 
TOLM AN, Mary A., 267,268. 

Sabra, 261. 
TOOLE or O'TOOLE, Aus- 
tin (22d Regt.), 644. 
TOOMBS, WilHam, 149, 187. 
TOQUE, Rev. Philip, 481. 
TORREY, Charles, 157. 

George A., 499. 

Rufus, 1S8. 

William, 50. 
TOWER, Asahel, 164. 

Rhoda, 148. 

\Yiniam A., 528, 529. 
TOWSLEY, Leonard M. 

(15th Regt.), 586,642. 
TRACY, John (21st Regt.). 
625. 62S, 644. 

Patrick (4th Cav.), 655. 

Rev. Leonard, 447, 471. 
TREADWELL,Rev. Thos. 

B.. 487. 
TUCKER, Admonition, 79. 

Amos D., 465. 

Darius, 531. 

Family, 80, 131. 

Josiah, 79. 

Mary, 79. 

Rebecca, 80. 

Sally, 171, 175. 

Sarah, 80. 

Lieut. Thomas, 79, 80. 

Thomas 2d, 80, 131. 

William, 79, 80, 128. 
TURNBULL, Joseph, 106. 
TURNER. Elisha, 528, 529. 

Horatio E., 418, 419, 420, 
575, 630, 649. 

Stephen, 404. 

Steven H., 528, 529. 
TYLER, Benjamin, 395. 

S. W.. 400, 420. 

Mrs. S. W.,400. 

S. W., D. A. White &, 387. 

& Bartlett, 395. 
TYNG, Edward, 50. 
T IPHA>L George B., 423. 
U William C, 203. 
UPTON, Col. Edwin, 533. 

535, 564. 56S. 
URANN, Thomas, 525. 



WALENTINE, Elmer, 440. 
' Elizabeth J., 440. 
Thomas \V., 137. 

VETTER, George (25th 
Regt.), 566, 569, 646. 

VINT, Joseph A. (3d Regt.), 
652. 

VIRGIL, 127. 

VOSE, Lieut. Josiah H. (53d 
Regt.), 218, 295, 413. 461, 
528, 531,532.^55,556 571, 
572, 578, 602, 603, 606-607, 
651. 

W ADS WORTH, Capt.,56. 
WAGELY, Louis, 564. 
WAKEFIELD, George W., 
449, 460. 
Maria, 449. 
Rev.. 467. 
WAKER, Isaac, 38. 
WALDEN, Abigail, 137. 
WALKER, Angus. 326. 
Burton .S.. 393, 477. 
Charles W., 297. 477. 
Deacon William, 465, 470, 

472, 475- 
William (15th Regt.), 553, 

642. 
Gen. Francis A., 559. 
WALLACE, David, 2S6, 366, 
472. 
David O. (15th Regt.), 553, 

625, 626, 639. 
Martha X., 303. 
WARD, Lieut. -Col. George 
H., 546, 550. 592, 593- 
James H. (4th cav.), 655. 
WARE, Charles W., 528, 365. 
WARNER, A. O., 392. 
B. F., 391. 
L. D., 427. 
WARREN, Gen. G. K., 595. 
George W., 261. 
Dr. Joseph, 5S0. 
& Bowman, 404. 
W. E., SOI. 
William, 533. 
WASHBURN, Edward R., 
602. 
Judge Emory, 373. 
Gov. William B.,380. 
& Moen, 330, 3S3. 
WASHINGTON,, Gen. 

George, 99, 106, 526, 535. 
WATERMAN, Murray, 123. 
WATERS, Charles H., 242, 
344, 346, 543- 
Horace H. (60th Regt.) ,391, 

414, 653. 
John A. (53d Regt.), 365, 

652. 
Lawrence, 38, 41. 
William G. (15th Regt.), 
546, 639. 
WEBB, Joseph, 524. 

Gen. A. S., 593. 
WEEKS, Aaron, 493. 
George W., 216, 304, 320, 
321, 324-326. 413, 414, 500, 
522, 574, 659. 
James A., 324, 325, 326, 471, 
472, 493, 495- 



676 



INDEX OF PERSONS. 



Jonathan, 325, 4S2. 

Solomon, 325. 
WEISS EK, Frederic, 619,645. 
WELCH, Sylvesters., 532. 
WELLINGTON, Asa, 261. 

Levi (4th Cav.), 655. 

Thomas, 493. 

W. H„ 501. 
WELLS, Col. George D., 

575, 631, 632. 
WELSH, Michael (3d H. 

Art.), 653. 
WEISSEK, Frederick (25th 

Regt.),645. 
WENNING, Frederick (25th 

Regt.), 624, 646. 
WESTON, Rev. David, 478. 
WHEELER, John C. (22d 
Regt.), 644- 

T. H., 158, 

Nelson, 265. 

Phoebe, 80. 

Reuben, 80. 

Richard, 45, 56. 

Sarah, 58. 
WHEELOCK, Benjamin, 
105. 

Capt. Wm. R. (15th Regt.), 
377, 638. 

George H., 449. 

Jonathan, 105. 
WHIPPLE, Augustus, 137. 

Charles, 148. 

Edwin P., 411. 
WHITCOMB, Col. Asa, 91, 

,^95, 97, 99- 

Emma S., 304. 

Fanny, 267. 

Harriet, 261, 268, 303. 

Job, 58. 

John, 58. 

Col. John, 9Q, 100. 

Jonathan, 5S. 

Miss Fanny, 267. 

Nathaniel, 207. 

Nelson, 285, 404, 493, 495, 53i- 

Nelson, & Holman, Chas., 
381, 404- 
WHITE, C. H.,533. 

Daniel A. (25th Regt.), 356, 
387, 419, 420, 501, 533, 645. 

Hiram P., 187. 

John, 41. 

Capt. John, 97, 99. 

Jonas B., 181,260, 493. 

Capt. Joseph, 99. 

Joseph, 94. 

Josiah, 59. 

Mary, 68. 

Sophia, 188. 

W. P., 396. 
WHITING, Alvin, 32S. 

Charles A., 245, 344. 

Rev. John. 444. 

Timothy Jr., 527. 
WHITMAN, Jonathan, 72, 

96, 
WHITNEY, AbigaiUTown- 
send), 137. 

Caroline M., 261. 

Henry M., 326. 

Horace, 255, 350. 



Horace Jr. (53d Regt.), 652. 

Isaac, 148. 

Col Josiah, 97. 

& Gould, Misses, 386. 
WHITTAKER, E. P., 48S. 
WHITTEMORE, Rev. Ben- 
jamin, 280, 503. 

Lorenzo, 260. 

W. B., 419. 
WHITTENDEN,Elizabeth 

(Carter). 137. 
WHITTEN & H. S. Bur- 

dett, 390. 
WIESMAN, Bernard (25th 

Regt.), 647. 
WILCOX, General, 638. 

Judge Leonard, 425. 

Koxana, 449. 
WILDER, Abel, 138, 465.466. 

Abigail, 78, 81. 

Allen Mary, 126. 

Family, 76-So, 81, 91. 92, 95, 
102, 129, 130, 189, 206. 

Anna, 138. 

Aurelius Collis, 125. 

Carter, 446. 

Charles L., iSo. 

Clara, 138. 

David, 130. 

Deliverance, 78. 

E. B.,26S. 

Ebenezer, 76, 127, 136, 138, 
145. 

Edward, 76. 

Edwin F., 77, 78. 

Elisha, 627. 

Elisha, 126, 527. 

Elizabeth, 137, 138. 

Franklin, 126, 221. 

Frederick W., 135. 

George C, 659. 

Hannah, "]"]. 

Henry, 280. 

James, 524. 

John ist, 58, 68, ^T, 78. 

John 2d, 77, 78, 79. 

John 3d, 7S, 79. 

"Dr." John, 126, 138, 465. 

John Jr. (son of Dr. John), 
126, 138, 465- 

Jonathan, 72. 

Josephus, 493. 

Joseph Jr., -ji- 

Jotham ist, 78, 80, 90,91,99, 
125-126. 

Jotham 2d, 96, 99. 

J. H.,53i- 

Kate, 138. 

Levi, T26, 13S. 

Levi2d, 126. 

Lucena, 138. 

Marshall P., 282. 

Martha, 76. 

Mary, T^. 

Nathaniel ist, 58. 

Nathaniel 2d, 279. 

Oliver, 90. 

Patience. 465. 

Phoebe, 80. 

Prudence, 78. 

Prudence 2d, 79. 

Rachel, 78. 



Rebecca, 138. 

record, 74. 

Reuben, 99. 

Rufus, 137. 

Rufus A., 138. 

Sally, 138, 148, iSo. 

.Sampson V. S., 405, 445. 

Mrs. Sampson V. S., 403. 

Sanford B. (2d H. Art.) ,653. 

Sarah, 81, 138. 

Solon, 444. 

Stephen, 76, 80, 95, 100, 126, 

128, 145, 1S3. 
Susannah, 72, 78, 80. 
Thomas 1st (1659), 76. 
Thomas 2d, 43, 58, 59, 73, 76, 

79- 
Thomas 3d, 77, 78, 79. 
Titus, 136, 177. 
Titus (son of Thomas 3d), 

79- 
Titus ist, 74, 80, 95, 100, 126- 

127, 128, 138, 145. 
Titus 3d, 126-127, 138, 175, 

186, 187. 
W. G., 356. 
W. G. &Co.,387. 
W. G. & Orr, 387. 
William S., 465. 
WILEY, Margaret Louisa, 

WILL A RD family, 92. 

Abel, 95. 

Col. Abijah, 95, 96. 

Benjamin, 466, 472. 

Frances W., 268. 

Joseph, 33, 39, 165, 166, 178. 

J. W., 401, 410, 493. 

Capt. Josiah, 79. 

Lydia S.. 304. 

Major, 58. 

Mary, 49. 

Mary A., 267. 

I. w., 531. 

Simon, 41. 

Simon Jr., 49. 

Walter, 136. 

& Ward, 84. 
WILLIAMS, S., 397. 
WILLIAMSON, Rev., 509. 
WILLIS, Daniel, 465. 
WILSON, Estes, 482. 

Hon. Henry, 558, 579, 580. 

Jacob, 329. 
WINCHESTER, Mrs. W. 
W., 463. 

Rev. Warren W., 294, 456- 

459, 543- . 
WINTER, Aaron E., 395, 
396. 

Calvin, 107, 145, 160, 186. 

Christian (25th Regt.), 647. 

Dexter S. K., 395. 

Edward, 396. 

J., 1S6. 

Dea. Waldo, 395-396, 408, 
460. 
WTNTHROP, John, 33, 36. 

Reverend, 467. 

Robert C, 192, 199. 
WISE, Daniel, D. D., 484- 
WISER, James or Quanna. 



INDEX OF PLACES. 



^n 



pohit, 48, 49. 
WOLFE, Gen. James 91. 
WOOD. A. H., 405. 

Baxter, So, 12S, 136, 138. 

Col. Ezra, 97, 98, 99. 

Hollis, 169. 

Rev. Horatio, 312. 

John (60th Regt.), 653. 

John H., 175. 

Mrs. John H., 175. 

Lucinda, 148. 

William, 236. 
WOODBURV, C. L., 396. 

Sarah C, 304. 

Sarah E., 376. 
WOOSTER, George B., 383, 

399. 407. 4oS. 
WORCESTER, Almira, 449- 



Charles W., 286, 357, 410, 

436. 457. 493- 
Mrs. C. W., 463. 
Emily, 194. 
Dr. J. F., 35S. 
Mary B , 449. 
Sampson, 449. 
WORTHEN, Sanborn, 207, 

409. 531- 
WRIGHT, Alexander, 213. 
Archibald D. (15th Regt.), 

553. 594- 616, 617, 639. 
Daniel (36th Regt.), 257, 

649, 617. 
Ellen A.. 303. 
George F., 345. 
Jabez L., 207. 
James, 257. 



John (dyer), 257. 
John (of Lowell), 202, 203. 
John T., 257. 
Capt. Nathaniel, q8. 
& Colton (Wire Cloth Co.), 
Worcester, 345. 
WRIGLEV, James, 329-330, 

399- 
WYEK, Henry H.,449. 

James, 449. 
WVMAN, Abijah, 527. 

Nathaniel, 94. 
7IEGLER, Heinrich (25th 
^ Regt.), 647. 

ZIMMERMAN, John (53d 
Regt.), 652. 



INDEX OF PLACES* 



Abington, Me., 657. 

Acre, The, 7, 136, 221, 301, 319, 329, 51S. 

Addison, N. Y., 475. 

Agfricultural Fair Grounds, Worcester, 563, 

564. 
Alaska, 459. 

Albany, N. Y., 165, 420, 440, 480. 
Alexandria, Va., 559, 575, 576. 
Alexandria, La., 605, 607, 654. 
Algiers, La., 604. 
Allen Street, 62, 69, 354. 
Allentown, Pa.., 460. 
Alstead, N. H., 325. 
America, 23, 24, 36, 134, 141, 146, 162, 230, 236, 

237, 256, 257, 258, 267, 305, 32S, 329, 343, 357. 

404, 508, 512, 513, 515. 
Amesbury Turnpike, 164. 
Amherst, N. H., 240. 
Andersonville, Ga., 420, 600, 621, 623, 630, 631, 

639, 640, 646, 647, 64S, 649, 650, 654. 
Andover, 451, 453. 454. 
Annapolis, Md., 563, 564, 565, 569, 601, 647. 
Annapolis Junction, Md., 563. 
Antietam, Md., 439, 561, 582-588, 590, 593, 594, 

637. 639. 640. 641, 642, 643, 644, 657. 
Appomattox, Va., 633. 
Appomattox River, 624, 627. 
Arhngton. 306. 

Arrowfiela Church, Va., 619, 645, 646. 
Ashburnham, 299, 486, 601, 644. 
Ashby, «6. 
Ashland, 347, 348. 
Assabet River, i, 2, 6, 7. 
Atherton Bridge, 431. 
Athol, 327. 388. 
Atlantic Ocean, 141, 
Australia, 359. 



Ballard Hill, 438. 

Ballardville, 485. 

Ball's Bluff, Va„ 550-553, 555. 556, 557, 564. 
570, 584, 593, 638, 639, 640, 641, 642. 

Baltimore, Md., 248, 504, 512, 542, 596, 638. 

Bangor, ^Ie., 656. 

Bannockburn, Scotland, 258, 327. 

Barbadoes, 35, 45. 

Bare Hill, Harvard, 52. 

Barre, 137, 327, 328, 383. 
^ Bath, N. H., 500. 

i Baton Rouge, La., 596, 604, 607, 647. 
\ Bavaria, 333. 
I Beacon Street, 301. 
' Beaufort, S. C, 570. 
I Bedford, 497, 500. 
I Belle Isle, Richmond, Va., 600, 650. 
' Bellingham, 131, 132, 

Bellingham Street, Chelsea, 487. 

Bennington, Vt., 97, 99, no, 422. 

Berlin, 18, 22, 39, 82. 91. 98, 105, 107, 127, 128, 
129, 136, 137, 187, 188, 265, 270, 273,280,282, 
340, 342, 346, 364, 371, 395, 404, 440, 451, 505, 

535- 
Berlin, Germany, 267. 
Berlin or North Brook, 6, 7. 
Berlin Road, 264, 291. 
Bermuda Hundreds, Va., 618, 621, 628. 
Berryville, Va., 559. 
Bethesda Church, Va., 622, 644. 
Beverly, 146. 
Biddeford, Me., 371, 
Billerica, 54, 359, 500. 

Bisland, Fort, or Irish Bend, La., 604, 652. 
Blackinton, Berkshire County, 459. 
Blackstone. 546. 
Blackstone River, i. 



* This index includes natural divisions of land and water, countries, states, counties, 
cities, towns, districts, streets, etc., but does not include buildings or estates. 



678 



INDEX OF PLACES. 



Blue Springs, Tenn., 600, 64^, 

Bolivar Heights, Va 58^ 

Bolton, 18, 22, 29, 62, 65, 73, 80, 82, 109, 130, 137, 
163, 164, 170, 254, 270, 273, 280, 282,372, 381, 
401, 403,404, 445, 471, 535. 

Bolton Hills, 18. 

Bosley, County Palatine of Chester, Eng- 
land, 141. 

Boston, 34, 35, 69, 62, 94, 96, 97, 99, 115, 127, 140, 
141, 142, 143, 150, 151, 153, 156, 171, 180, 195, 
196, 203, 232, 236, 239, 240, 241, 242, 244, 307, 
308, 312, 32s, 326, 358, 374, 375, 383, 384, 387, 
390, 392, 393, 401, 403, 415, 422, 423- 425, 430, 
442, 443, 455, 459, 460, 469, 476, 478, 484, 485, 
487, 496, 500, 505, 512, 513, 518, 525, 555, 556, 

^ 557, 575, 576, 642, 644 655, 656, 657. 

Boston District, Methodist Church, 487. 

Boston Harbor, 642. 

Boston Road, 180. 

Boylston, i, 3, 8, 9, 18, 19, 22, 39, 75, 80, 82, 83, 
110, 116, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 126, 128, 129, 
136, 158, 160, 176, 178, 204, 205, 222,247, 257, 
258, 270, 271, 317, 321, 326, 337, 340, 344, 359, 
392,406,471,483, 

Boylston Street, 292, 331, 359. 

Branch Street, 339. 

Brashear City, La,, 604. 

Brattleboro, Vt., 393. 

Brewster, Mass,, 325. 

Bricksburg, N. J., 393, 475. 

"Biide Caice Plain" (see Old Common, Lan- 
caster), ^7, 444. 

Bridgewater, 167, 

Bridport, Vt., 459. 

Brighton, 164. 

Brimfield, 454. 

Bristoe Station, Va., 595. 

Broadway, Boston, 487. 

Broadway Landing, Va., 624. 

Brome, Canada, 256. 

Bromfield Street, Boston, 487. 

Brookfield, 546. 

Brookline, 150, 476. 

Brooklyn, Ct., 500. 

Brooklyn, N. Y., 137, 267, 489. 

Brownsville, N. Y., 359. 

Bucksport, Me., 657. 

Bull Run, Va, 548, 657. 

Bunker Hill, 72, 96, 97, 99, no, 168, 580. 

Burdett Street, 405. 

Burditt Hill, 2, 4, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18-19, 20, 22, 
24, 26, 47, 71, 74, 81, 113, 114, 122, 162, 175, 
217, 296, 301, 351, 534, 535. 

Cairo, 111., 597, 599, 607. 

Calais, Me., 497. 

California, 332, 404, 443, 453, 551. 

California District, 2S9. 

California Road, 292. 

Cambridge, 59, 95, 98, 359, 374, 375, 489, 

498j 500. 
Cambridge, N. Y'., 420, 
Cambridgeport, 137, 489. 
Camden, N. C, s68, 
Camp Banks, Long Island, 602. 
Camp Forbes, near Leesboro, Md., 576. 
Camp Hicks, near Annapolis, Md., 564. 
Camp Kalorama, Md., 548. 
Camp Lincoln, Worcester, 564. 
Camp Nelson, on Kentucky River, 596, 
Camp Scott, Worcester, 545, 547. 
Camp Stevens, Groton, 607. 



497, 



Camp Wool, Gen. John E., Worcester, 575, 

576. 
Camp Worcester, near Alexandria, Va., 575. 
Canada, 75, 90, 91, 134, 256, 408, ';o8, 518, 538. 
Canterbury, N. H., 331. 
Cape Hatteras, N. C, 565. 
CarroUtan, La., 603. 
Carville's Brook, 5, 6, 9. 
Carville's Pond, 6. 
Cedar Creek, Va., 630, 632. 
Cedar Mountain, 582. 
Cedar Street, i7, 106, 134, 168, 226. 
Cemetery (Catnolic), 4, 287. 
Cemetery (Woodlawn), 287, 290, 292. 
Cemetery Hill, 14, 16. 
Central America, 134. 
Centralville, Lowell, 379. 
Chace, Street, 25, 77, 78, 79, 127, 129, 131. 
Chambly River, Canada, 75. 
Chancellorsville, Va., 592, 608. 
Chantillv, Va., 583, 643, 644, 590. 
Chapel Hill, 16. 

Charleston, S. C, 141, 248, 4S5, 570, 638. 
Charlestown, 40, 76, 244, 483, 487, 637. 
Charlestown Neck, no. 
Charlmont, 486. 
Charlton, 486, 487. 
Chelsea, 248, 487. 
Chesterfield Junction, Va., 619. 
Chestnut Street, 17, 105, 107, 159, 161. 217, 218, 

250, 270, 291, 301, 314, 327, 331, 357, 362, 

363, 372, 380, 384, 393, 396, 403, 407, 423, 426. 
Chicago, 305. 

Chickahominy River, Va., 559, 618, 621. 
Chicopee, 246, 489. 
Chocksett (see Sterhng), 82. 
Church Street, 17, 64, 255, 263, 265, 270, 288' 

291, 297, 358, 360, 367, 370, 382, 387, 388, 

394, 395, 396, 397, 398, 399, 402, 403, 404, 

405, 406, 423, 436, 438, 440, 501, 516, 578. 
Cincinnati, Ohio, 596. 
Clamshell Pond, 4, 6-7, 12, 22, 25, 35, 77, 78, 

79, 80, no, 127, 128. 
Claremont, N. H., 422, 423, 425, 438, 486. 
Cleveland, Ohio, 401. 
Clinton, 1-659. 

" Iowa, 385, 423. 

" Louisiana, 605. 
Clinton Company's Reservoir, 9, 13, 14-15. 
Clinton Water Supply Reservoir, 18, 117. 
Clintonville (mentioned elsewhere without 

reference), 192-268. 
Coachlace Pond, 15, 16, 121. 169, 471. 
Coachlace Street, 116. 
Cold Harbor, Va., 620, 621-624, 625, 639, 645, 

646, 650. 
Coleraine, 486, 487. 
Columbia, S. C, 638. 
Common, The, 289, 290-291, 293, 416, 439, 482, 

535, 536, 634- 
Common (Worcester), The, 547. 
Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, 241. 
Concord, 45, 50, loi. 
Concord River, i, 6. 
Connaught, Ireland, 517. 
Connecticut, 20, 460, 65S. 
Connecticut River, i. 

" " Road to, 50, 54. 

Connecticut Valley, 362. 
Conway, 397. 
Cooperstown, N. Y., 188. 
Cork, Ireland, 519. 



INDEX OF PLACES. 



679 



Cork, County of, Ireland, 513. 

Counterpane Pond, 16, 17, 292, 314. 

Covington, Ky., 650. 

Crab Orchard, Ky., 599, 650. 

Cross Street, 225, 319. 

Crown Point, N. \ ., 31, 91. 

Cuba, West Indies, 403. 

Cumberland Gap (Cumberland Mts.), 599, 638. 

Cunningham's Mill Pond, 8, 122. 

Currier's Flats, 5, 13, 16, 26, 65. 

Damascus, Syria, 478. 

Danielsonville, Ct., 394. 

Danvers, 497. 

Darien, Ct , 449. 

Dark Road, 550. 

Davenport Purchase, 54. 

David's Island. N. Y., 561, 642. 

Dean's Brook (See Goodrich Brook). 

"Death Angle,"' Spottsylvania, Va., 617. 

Dead Rivers, 5. 

Dedham, 327, 328, 460, 485. 

Deer's-Horns District, 11, 75, 83, 270, 279. 288, 
415- 

Detroit, Mich., 383. 

District (School) No. 5. 296. 

No. 8, 1S3. 

" " • No. 9, 183. 

District No. 10 (see Factory Village), 108, 
145- 157. 174- 176. 177, 178, 183-191, 259-268, 
269, 272, 273, 274. 276, 302, 337. 338, 341, 345, 
351, 361, 362, 375, 3S1, 382, 439, 440, 44T, 453, 
474, 529, 530- 

District No. II, 125-138, 177, 178, 181, 187, 188, 
190, 260, 261, 263, 269, 341, 362, 406. 

Dixfield, Me.. 328. 

Donaldsonville, La., 607. 

Donegal, Ireland, 510. 

Dorchester, 137, 327, 486. 

Dover, N. H., 352. 

Drewry's Bluff, Va., 620, 621, 645, 646, 647. 

Driving Park, 11, 12, 26. 

Duck Harbor Pond, 15. 

Dudley, 32S, 4S6, 519. 

Dunbar, Scotland, 357. 

Dunbarton, N. H., 357. 

Dundee, Scotland, 519. 

Dunker's Church, Antietam, 585. 

East Amherst, 307. 
East Boston, 486. 
East Bridgewater, 146. 
East Brookfield, 363. 
East Cambridge, 4S3, 486. 
East Longmeadow, 486. 
East Marshfield, 299. 
East Princeton, i. 
East Street, 389. 

" " (Boston), 308. 
East Sudbury, 104. 
East Tennessee, 599, 606, 638. 
East Village, 270, 481. 
East Wilton, N. H., 442. 
East Woodstock, Ct., 488. 
Easthampton, 248, 250, 299, 361. 
Edward's Ferrv, Md., 549, 558. 
Ellicott City, Md., 512, 513. 
Elliott Salient, near Petersburg, 627. 
Elizabeth City, N. C, 568. 
Enfield, Ct., 328. 

England, 34, 35, 36, 54, 76, 79, 84, 89, 9°, 92, 
J18, 141, 142, 143, 144, 215, 218, 230, 232, 236, 



^ . 328, 330, 332, 345, 350, 378, 408, 508, 509, 656. 

Erie Canal, N. Y., 378. 

Europe, 226, 231, 237, 240, 249, 267, 321, 332, 

^ 355,415,478,500,551. 

European Ports, 658. 

Exeter, N. H., 455, 492. 

Factory Pond, 15. 

Factory Village (see District No. 10), 139- 

161, 175, 190, 201, 202, 218, 249, 254, 381, 

3S2, 428, .J29, 445, 529. 
Fair Oaks, \ a., 559, 641. 
Fall River, 298. 
Falmouth. 486. 

.,,'^^a., 589, 590, 591, 596, 650. 
Fisher Hill, Va., 632. 
Fishkill, N. Y., 97. 
Fitchburg, 19, 27, 71, 161, 342, 360, 366, 372, 

392, 397, 441, 447, 449, 45°, 45', 453, 471, 484, 

48.7. 497, 499, 510, 535, 546, 564, 607. 
f'loating Island, 13. 
F'lorence, S. C, 626, 639, 640, 648, 649. 
Florida, 355, 483. 
Fort Barton, N. C, 566. 
Fort Blsland or Irish Bend, La,, 604, 652. 
Fort Duquense, Pa., 90. 
Fort Erie, Ontario, 150. 
P'ort Jackson, on Mississippi River, 603. 
Fort Macon, N. C, 565. 
Fort or Fortress Munroe, Va., 324, 565, 596, 

608. 
Fort St. Philip, on Mississippi River, 603. 
Fort Sumter, S. C, 541. 
Fort Ticonderoga, N. Y., 90, 91. 
Fort Wagner, S. C., 657. 
Fort Wayne, Ind., 137. 
Fort ^^"illiam Henry, N. Y., go. 
Four Ponds, 11, 189, 401. 
Framingham, 79, 267, 347, 420, 526. 
France, 90, 140, 162, 40S. 
Franklin, N. H., 352. 
Franklin Street, 17, 513, 518. 

" " New York, 602. 



Va. 



590, 591, 592, 596, 



Fredericksburg 
608, 642, 65? 
Freeport, Me., 492. 
Fuller's Pond, 13, 14. 
Fuller Street, 167. 
Fullerville, 321. 

Gaines' Mill, Va., 560, 63S. 

Galway County, Ireland, 518. 

Gardner, 419. 

George Hill, 25, 27, 36, 38, 47, 51, 76, 105. 

Georgia, 600. 

" \'t., 299. 
German Village, 4, 161, 319, 335. 
Germany, 334, 336, 108, 553, ■657- 
Gettysburg, Pa., 582, 591-594, 595, 598, 638, 

639, 640, 641, 642. 
Glasgow, Scotlana, 329. 
Glendale, Va., 560. 
Gloucester, 300, 486, 489. 
Gloucester Harbor, 486. 
Gloucester Parish, 485. 
Goldsborough, N. C., 565, 569. 
Goodrich, Goodridge, Gutteridge or Dean's 

Brook, 6, 11-12, 26, 69, 105, 361. 
Goodrich Hill, 280. 
Gorham, Me., 639. 
Grafton, 299, 487, 532, 546, 645. 
Granby, 299. 



680 



INDEX OF PLACES. 



Great Britain, 94. 

Greece, 267. 

Green Street, 133, 161, 218, 221, 225, 319, 332, 

379i 396, 460. 
Greenfield, 609. 
Greenville, N. H., 334- 
Groton, 46, 49, 54, 61, 70, 346, 350, 374, 377< 

404, 526, 535- 607. 
Grove Street, 292, 301. 
Gum Swamp, N. C, 569. 

Hadley, 386. 
Halifax, 395. 

" England, 232. 
Halifax Parish, England, 34, 45. 
Hall's Hill, near Washington, 558. 
Hampton, N. H., 255. 
Hanocock, N. H., 393, 441. 
Hanover, N. H., 435. 
Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, 53S, 539, 548, 

629. 
Harris Bridge (see Prescott Bridge), 63, 177- 

178, 191, 270, 340, 477- 
Harris Dam, 337. 
Harris Hill, 4, 10, 17, iS, 20, 22, 24, 26, 217, 264, 

341. 
Harrisburg, Pa., 248, 334. 
Harrison Island (Potomac River), 549. 
Harrison Landing, Va., 560, 643. 
Harrisville, 4, 5, 63, 105. 
Hartford, Ct., 422. 
Harvard, 19, 39, 54, 62, 82, 118, 126, 137, 148, 

255, 400, 427, 449, 464. 471, 496. 535- 
Hatteras Inlet, N. L., 565. 
Havana, Fla., 163. 
Haverhill, 164, 642. 
Hawley, 300. 
Heath, 486. 

Hell Gate, New York Harbor, 386. 
Henniker, N. H., 453. 
Hexham, England, 509. 
High Bridge, N. Y., N. H. & H. R. R., 176, 

177. 
High Bridge, near Richmond, Va., 633. 
High Street, 17, 44, 62, 71, 108, 163, 250, 263, 

270, 292, 329, 332, 340, 341, 360, 364. 365, 

370, 378, 382, 3S3, 385, 387, 388, 3 



392, 398, 399, 4°', 402, 404, 406, 407, 

423, 435, 436, 438, 443, 450, 481. 
Highlands of Scotland, 326. 
Hill's Point, N. C, 569, 645. 
Hillsboro, N. H., 407. 
Hilton Head, S. C, 570. 
Hingham, 76. 
Hinsdale, 641. 
Holden, i, 19, 175, 256, 264, 265, 389, 398, 449, 

451, 461. 
HolUston, 176, 347- 
Holy Land, 478, 500. 
Holyoke, 246, 326, 647. 
Hookset, N. H., 323, 329. 
Hopedale, 253. 
Hopkinton, 484, 485. 
Houghton, Colorado, 460. 
Howe's Duck Pond, 11, 25. 
Hudson, 82, 401. 

N. H., 393. 
Hull, 99. 

Humphreysville, Ct., 234. 
Hungry Hollow. See Waterloo. 

Illinois, 658. 



India, 497. 

Indianapolis, Indiana, 610, 653, 658. 

Inverness, 326. 

Ipswich, 162, 4S6. 

Ireland, 408, 505, 506, 507, 508, 515, 516, 517, 

518, 519, 556, 557, 655, 656, 657. 
Irish Bend. See Fort Bisland. 
Iron Stone Rocks, 42, 48. 
Islands of South Branch of Nashua River, 5. 

Jackson, Mississippi, 599, 649. 

Jamaica Plain, 257. 

James River, Va., 560, 561, 614, 615-624, 629. 

Jamestown, Ky., 597. 

Jenksville, 486. 

Jersey Island, 140, I4i. 

Jewett City, Ct., 340. 

Jewett's Pond, 10. 

John's Jumpe, Lancaster, 51, 60. 

Kalamazoo, Mich., 372. 
Kansas, 315, 374, 538. 
Keene, N. H., 72, 108, 137, 267, 436. 
Kendall Court, 401, 435. 
Kendall Place, 435. 
Kennebunk, Me., 657. 
Kentucky, 596, 597, 599. 
Kentucky River, 596. 
Keokuk, Iowa, 460. 
Kev West, Florida, 603. 
Kidderminster, England, 251. 
Kingston, N. C, 569. 
Kip^sBay, N. Y.,98. 
Knoxville, Tenn., 599-600, 650, 

Laconia, N. H., 359. 

Lancashire, England, 34. 

Lancaster (mentioned frequently elsewhere 

without reference), 1-238. 
Lancaster Mills Bridge, 125, 128, 271, 301,564. 
Lancaster Mills Pond, 2-3, 18, 160. 
Lancaster Mills Pond Dam, 3, 4, 35, 109, 113, 

158, 218, 121-222. 
Lancaster, N. H.,486. 
Larkin Corner, 95. 
Lawrence, 334, 353, 378, 643. 
Lebanon, Ky., 597. 
Leeds, England, 141, 330. 
Leesboro, Md., 57. 
Leesburg, Va., 549-551. 
Leicester, 103, 157, 195, 196, 484. 
Leominster, 1, 19, 39, 80, 82, 107, 129, 130, 162, 

164, 167, 168, 175, 179, 182, 298,366,376,377, 

395, 396, 449, 450, 471, 501, 535, 54^, 548. 
Lenoir Station, Ienn.,600. 
Lewiston, Me., 256, 330. 
Lexington, 95, 97, 98, 99, 100, 108, 110, 168.469, 

496. 
Lexington, Ky., 596. 
Liberty, Me., 401. 
Liberty Hill, 16, 
Little Compton, R. I., 486. 
Little Falls, N. Y., 346. 
Littleton^ 290, 346. 
Liverpool, England, 517, 518. 
London, England, 142, 150, 231. 
Long Island, 330, 602. 
Louisbourg, Dominion of Canada, 90. 
Lover's Leap, 4, 17, 550. 
Lowell, 137, 203, 213, 215, 216, 226, 230, 235, 

2^0, 256, 257, 298, 30S, 316, 329, 332, 375. 379i 

380, 395, 442, 501. 



INDEX OF PLACES. 



Ludlow, 4.87. 

Lunenburg, ig, 74, lyq, 30S, 338, 357, 481, 497. 

Luzerne, N. \ .. 74, 105. 

Lyman, N. H., 331. 

Lyme, N. H.. 425. 

Lynchburg, Va., 631, 648, 649. 

Lyndon, Vt., 486. 

Lynn, 137, 377- 487, 489- 

Lynnfield, 56;. 

McColIumville(see Scrabble Hollow), 166, 296. 

Macon, Georgia, 638. 

Madison, Wis., 332, 481. 

Main Street, 13, 16. 24, 116, 147, 148, 150, 164, 

169, 175, 184, 1S6, igo, 217, 219, 240, 250, 

258, 264, 265, 270, 301, 351, 35^, 357, 359, 

363, 376, 381, 392, 399. 429, 430, 446, 447. 

480, 506, 510, 513, 517, 518, 51Q. See Mill 

Path. 
Main Street, North Lancaster, 526. 
Maine, 138, 247, 253, 332, 371, 416, 658. 
Maiden, 168, 299. 
Malta, Isle of, 657. 
Malvern Hill, Va., 560, 638. 
Manchester, N. H., 389, 451. 
Manassas Junction, Va., 582, 583, 590, 644. 
Mansfield, Mass., 486. 

" Texas, 607, 639. 
Maplehurst, Lancaster, 39. 
Marblehead, 485, 486. 
Marrietta, Ohio, 76, 113. 
Marlboro, iS, 45, 56, 62, 74, 14S, 325, 347, 387, 

392, 401, 425, 485, 487, 535, 651. 
Marlboro. N. H., 420. 
Maryland, 499, 563, 584, 601, 65S. 
Mason, \. H., 490. 
Mason Village, N. H., 334. 
Massachusetts. 3, 20, 33, 36, 66, 67, 79, go, 98, 

146, 154, 202, 219, 238, 239, 278, 280, 368, 378, 

432, 443. 478. 512. 534. 538- 
Massachusetts in Civil War, 539-659. 
Massachusetts Bay, i. 
Massachusetts Colony, 67. 
Mayo County, Connaught, Ireland, 517, 518. 
Mechanic Street, 17, 217, 255, 270, 323, 406, 407. 
Medfield, 453. 
Melbourne. P. Q., 518. 
Memphis, Tenn., 390. 
Mendon, 107, 109, 500. 
Meriden, N. H., 300, 422, 425. 
Merrimac River, i, 5, 6. 
Metropolitan Water Supply Reservoir, 3-4, 

II, 78. 
Mexico, Gulf of, 603. 
Michigan, 372. 

"Middle Cemetery," Lancaster, 444. 
Middleboro, 180. 

Middlesex County, 33, 39, 48, 51, 173, 244. 
Middletown, Va., 632. 
Milford, N. H., 257, 494. 
Mill Brook (see South Meadow Brook). 
Mill Path (see Main Street), 43, 47, 65, 72, 74- 
'"Mill Road" (see Main Street), i-?i. 
Millbury, 346. 
Milldale, Miss., 597. 
Millport, Scotland, 331. 
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 497. 
Mine Run, Va., 595. 
Mine Swamp Brook, 5, 8, 10, 11, 18, 114, 118, 

120, 121, 122, 190, 218, 254, 487. 
Mississippi, 596, 601, 638. 
Mississippi River, 137, 390, 597, 598, 605, 608. 

4« 



Mississippi Valley, 157, 596-608. 

Missouri, 538. 

Mobile, Alabama, 422. 

Mohawks, The, 35, 55. 

Monadnock Mountain, 19. 

Monaghan, Ulster, Ireland, 516. 

Monson, 486, 487. 

Montreal, Canada, 91, 181, 513. 

Moretown, Vt., 394. 

Morganza Bend, on Mississippi River, 608, 

654. 
Mossy Pond, 12-13, 14, 15, 26, 106, 113, 117, 

167, i6g. 
Mount Sterling, Ky., 5g6. 
Mount Washington, N. H., 241. 
Mystic, 54. 

Nantucket, 460. 

Narragansett Bay, R. I. 

Nashaway Plantation, 37-39. 

Nashua, N. H., 300, 323, 357, 375, 392, 393, 475. 

Nashua River, 1-6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 16, 18, 24, 31, 

33. 36. 37, 41. 47, 48, 52, 54, 62, 65, 69, 73, 81, 

105, 113, 122, 125, 131, 158, 177,216,218,374. 
Nashua Valley, 7, 218. 
Nashville, Tenn., 625, 644, 659. 
Natick, 485, 579. 
Naugatuck, Ct., 361. 
Nebraska, 408, 536. 
Nelson Street, 250, 270, 364, 457, 481. 
Neuse River, N. C., 567. 
New Bedford, 253, 371, 656, 657. 
New Boston (a name for South Lancaster) 

83, 156, 431. 
New Brunswick, 363, 408. 
New England, 21, 33, 34, 35, 37, 48, 49. 5i. 63, 

loi, 114, 131, 132, 157, 175, 216, 311, 4^0, 

445, 4S2, 483, 484, 487, 488, 489, 524, 525, 589. 
New Hampshire, 7, 20, 149, 308, 481, 657, 658. 
NewHaven, Ct., 658. 
New Jersey, 197, 5og, 5g4, 642. 
New London, Ct., ^86. 
New Market, Va., 030, 64g. 
New Orleans, La., 487, 596, 603, 604. 
New World, 34. 

New York, 338, 358, 401, 455, 516, 594, 603, 658. 
New \ ork City, 196, 202, 235, 237, 298, 326, 

331,374. 383, 390, 404, 422, 478, 602, 603, 

628, 645, 647, 652, 656. 
New York Harbor, 137. 
Newbern, N. C, 565-569, 628, 643, 646. 
Newbury, 486. 
Newburyport, 112, 267. 
Newport News, Va., 596. 
Newton, 2gg, 391, 469, 587, 637, 656. 
Newton Upper Falls, 4S5, 480, 487. 
North Abington, 407. 
North America. See America. 
North Anna River, 618. 
North Anson, Me., 330. 
North Attleboro, J95. 
Nortli, or Berlin Brook, 6, 7. 
North Brookfield, 46S, 487, 490. 
North CaroHna, 299, 539, ';63-57o,582, 601, 629. 
North Conway, N. H., 241. 
North Main Street, See Main Street. 
North Reading, 486. 
Northampton, 157. 

Northboro, 23, 118, 137, i55. i75. 376. 383. 387, 
^, 395. 431. 440, 449. 546. 576. 587, 642, 651. 
Northbndge, 546. 
Northern Canal, Lowell, 316, 



682 



INDEX OF PLACES. 



Northfield, 387, 38S. 

Norton, 159. 

Norwalk, Ct., 298. 

Norwich, Ct., 374, 443- 

Nova Scotia, 134, 408. 

Nut Grove, County Galway, 51S. 

Oak Street, 264 289, 518. 
Oakdale, 348, 406- 535- 
Oakham, Mass.. 401. 
Oberlin, Ohio, 500. 
Ohio, 72, 107. 499- 

Old Common (see Bride Cake Plain, Lan- 
caster), 62, 65, 77-79, 88, 167, 270. 
Opelausas, La., 605. 
Opequan, Va., 631, 654. 
Orford, N. H., ^25. 
Osawattomie, Kansas, 538. 
Oshkosh, Wis., 416. 
Oxbow of Nashua River, 2, 4, 22. 
Oxford, 449, 486, 546. 

Paisley, Scotland, 257, 420, 454. 
Palermo, Me., 538. 
Palmer, 328, 647. 
Pamlico Sound, N. C, 565, 566. 
Pamunkey River, Va.. 6is, 624, 
Paris, France, 267, 403. 
Paris, Me., 657. 
Park Street, 17. 
Parker Street, 352. 
Pattersonville, La., 604. 
Pawtucket, R. I., 146, 657. 
Paxton, 103, 264, 346, 347. 
Pegram Farm, Va., 629. 
Pelham, Ohio, 137. 

Penmsular (Campaign) . See Index of Sub- 
jects. 
Pennicook or Penecook River, 5, 38. See 

Nashua River. 
Pennsylvania, 23, 593, 641, 658. 
Petersburg, Va., 618, 624-628,1629, 633, 638, 639, 

640, 644, 645, 646, 647, 649, 650, 651. 
Petersham, 106. 
Philadelphia, 146, 199, 248, 256, 334, 436, 516, 

638, 656. 
Phillipston, 382. 
Piedmont, Va., 630-631, 648. 
Pittsfield, 378, 514. 
Pittsford, Vt., 455. 
Plain, The, 5, 8, 16-17, 26, 62, 69, 162. 
Plains, The Western, 536. 
Pleasant Hill, Texas, 607. 
Pleasant Street, 106. 258, 289, 373,405, 460, 514. 

Plover, Wis., 365. 

Plymouth, 450. 

Point Lookout, 18. 

Poitou, France, 140. 

Poland, Me., 391. 

Pond Court, 396, 401. 

Poolesville, Md., 506, 54S. 

Poplar Springs Church, Va., 62S. 

Port Beaufort, N. C, 565. 

Port Hudson, La., 604-606, 651, 652, 654, 655. 

Port Walthal Junction, Va., 619, 645, 646. 

Potomac River, 548, 549. 582. (Army of Po- 
tomac, see Subject Index.) 

Prescott Neighborhood, 95. 

Prescott's Bridge. See Harris Bridge. 

Prescott's Meadows, 70. 

Prescott Street, 105, 106, 134, 177, 181, 398, 402, 
406. 



Princeton, i, 19, 71, 106, 113, 254, 348, 357, 373, 

374- 
Prospect Street, 255, 270, 351, 363, 380, 399, 

404, 443- 
Providence, R. I., 135, 137, 258, 349. 374, 437. 

449, 496, 498. , 
Provincetown, Mass., 258. 

Quaker Village, 163. 

euebec, Canada, 91, 513. • 

ueen Anne's County, Md., 499. 
Quincy, 327. 

Railroad, Agricultural, 343. 

" New York, New Haven and Hart- 

ford, or Old Colony, Northern 
Division, or Boston, Clinton & 
Fitchburg, 177, 343, 374, 375, 490. 

" Boston & Maine, or Worcester & 
Nashua, 12, 17, 47, 69, 252, 340, 
373-374, 375, 499., 

" Worcester & Providence, 417. 

Rainsford Island, Mass., 642. 
Raleigh, N. C, 565. 
Rapidan River, Va., 616. 
Rattlesnake Ledge, 2, 7, 17, 18, 117, 169. 
Reading, 435. 
Readville, 558, 570. 

Red River, branch of Mississippi River, 607. 
Red Stone Road, 273. 
Redlands, Cal.,4^3. 
Reservoir Lot, 169. 
Rhode Island, 20, 96, 98, 99, 100, 129, 132, i35, 

146. 
Richmond, La., 658, 
Richmond, N. H., 137. 
Richmond, Va., 427, 553, 554, 556, 557, 560, 582, 

600, 613, 617, 618, 621, 624, 629, 632, 633, 638. 

639, 640, 641, 648, 650, 655. 
Rigby Brook, 12-13, 16, 24, 26, 62, 65, 73, 105, 

no, III, 166, 167, 168, 218, 429. 
Rigby Road, 62-63, 87, 104, 109, 270, 271, 359. 
Rigby Swamp, 184. 
Rindge, N. H., 72, 80, 99, 108. 
Roanoke Island, 565, 566, 567, 643, 646. 
Rochester, 406, 639. 
Rockbottom, 535. 
Rutland, i, 19, 98, 99, 363- 486. 
Rutledge, Tenn., 650. 
Ryegate, Vt.,331. 

Sabine Cross Roads, 607, 639. 

Sackett's Harbor, N. Y., 150. 

Saco, Me., 497. 

Saco River, 241. 

Saint Louis, Missouri, 157, 158, 299, 

St. Mary's Church, Va., 626, 641. 

St. Thomas, West Indies, 518. 

Salem, 486. 

Salisbury, N. C, 557, 629, 639, 640, 649, 650. 

Sandy Pond, 4, 9-10, 12, 14, i7, 25, 113, 114, 

115, iiS, 140, 164, 169, 270, 287, 530. 
Saratoga, 168. 
Saugus, 486. 

Savage Station, Va., 560. 
Saxonville, 486, 487. 
Scar, The, 62. 

Scar Bridge Road. 65, 68, 69, 72i- 
Schenectady, N. Y., 484. 
School Districts. See Districts. 
School Street, 17, 255, 270. 359, 364, 382, 402, 

404, 406, 454)519- 



INDEX OF PLACES. 



683 



Schuylkill Haven, Pa., 137. 

Scotland, 326, 332, 408, 638, 655, 656, 657. 

Scrabble Hollow (see McCoUomville). 166. 

190, 381. 
Searsport, Me., 437. 
Shenandoah River, Va,, 615. 
Shenandoah Valley, Va., 615, 629-631. 
Shevington, Lancashire, England, 34. 
Shiplake, England, 76. 
Shirley, 166, 194, 201,203, 255, 326, 338, 360, 374, 

435. 436, 449, 453, 535, 651. 
Shrewsbury, 27, 65, 66, 82, 128, 282, 392, 396. 
Shrewsbury Leg, 82. 
Slab Meadow, 18, 217. 
Slabbin, 70. 
Smithfield, R. I., 169. 
Snake Hill, Berlin, 18. 
Somerset, 486, 637. 
Somerville, Mass., 460. 
South Acton, 374. 
South Belchertown, 486. 
South Boston, 345, 485. 
South Branch of Nashua River. See Nashua 

River. 
South Carolina, 485. 
South End, 177. See Factory Village. 
South Hadley Falls, 335. 
South Main Street. See Main Street. 
South Meadow, 60. 
South Meadow Brook, 6, 12, 13, 14-16, 17, 26, 

40, 47- 62, 69, 113, 162, 167, 218. 
South Meadow Pond, 15. 
South Meadow Road, 15, 123, 124, 190, 366, 516. 
South Mills, N, C, 568. 
South Mountain, Md., 584. 
South Royalston, 484, 488, 490. 
South Scituate. 656. 
South Village (see Dist. No. 10), 447. 
"South Woods District" (see Dist. No. 11), 

134- 
Southboro, 137, 297, 471. 
Southbridge, 265, 347, 487, 488. 
Southwickj^ 44Q. 
Sowerby, England, 34, 44, 45. 
Spain, ;29, 408. 
Spencer, 479. 

Spottsylvania, Va. 617, 618, 639, 644. 648. 
Sprague's Bridge, 173. 
Spring Brook, 5, 8, 11, 497. 
Springfield, 34, 90, 265, 300, 374, 397, 512, 534, 

642, 643, 647. 
Springfield Landing, La., 651. 
Sterling, i, 8, 19, 39, 70, 82, 83, 120, 128, 130, 137, 

174, 187, 188, 189, 254, 255, 271, 273, 279,282, 

360, 365, 373, 374, 382, 405, 420, 432, 434, 445, 

471, 496, 501, 532, 535. 574. 63S, 639, 640, 648, 

650. 
Sterling Hills, 11, 14, 22. 
Sterling Road, 291, 397. 
Sterling Street, 13, 17, 259, 375. 447, 44S. 
Stickney Farm, Va., 648. 
Still River, 18, 133. 
Stillwater, N. Y., no. 
Stoneham, 299, 389. 

Stonehurst, North Conway, N. H., 241. 
Stonington, Ct., 486. 
Stow, 62, 445, 501. 
Strasburg, Va., 648. 
Sturbridge, 428, 429, 449. 
Sudbury, 43, 45, 57, 66, 351, 486. 
Sudbury River, 36, 37. 
Sudbury River. Way over, 37, 38. 



Sullivan, N. H., 74. 
Sullivan's Island, S. C, 485. 
Summit Street, 517. 
Sutton, 121, 137, 486. 



Sutton, Vt., 443. 
Swanzey, N. 
Sweden, 656. 



k't., 443- 
, N. rf., 31 



,65. 



Swinscoe's Bluff, 17, 26. 
Sylvan Grove, 12. 

Taneytown, Md., 592. 

Taunton, 159. 

Teche Country, La., 604. 

Temple, N. H., 441. 

Templeton, 72, loS. 

Tennessee (see East Tennessee), 601. 

Thetfort, Vt.267. ^ 

Ticonderoga, N. Y., 90, 91, 97, 98, 99. 

Topeka, Kansas, 300. 

Topsfield, no, 485, 486. 

Townsend, 485, 487. 

Troy, N. \ ., 258, 420, 485. 

Turin, N. Y., 378. 

Ulster, Ireland, 516. 

Union, Maine, 352. 

Union Street, 106, 217, 248, 250, 270, 314, 291, 
340, 359. 364, 371. 385. 390, 398,399. 406,407, 
412, 427, 429, 436. 440, 441, 481, 572. 

United Kingdom, 232. 

United States, 23, 230, 231, 232, 236, 237, 284, 
305, 308, 328, 330, 408, 537-659- 

Utica, N. \ ., 254, 519. 

Uxbridge, 106, 124, 159. 

Vermont, 149. 

Vicksburg, Mississippi, 596-598. 
Virginia. 538, 558, 565, 569, 57o, 582, 594, 599, 
601, 613-632, 638, 648. 

Wachusett Mountain, i, 18. 

Wachusett, Little, lo. 

Walnut Street, 17, 162, 255, 262, 263, 265, 266, 
270, 291, 297, 329, 348, 357, 363, 364, 376, 
393, 398, 407, 412, 438, 443. 452, 455, 457. 
460, 468, 469, 471, 477, 501. 

Walnut Street, Chelsea, 487. 

Walpole, N. H., 376, 388, 438. 

Waltham, 143, 146, 147, 325, 326, 4S5, 486. 

Ware, 395. 486. 

Wareham, 196. 

Warren, 490. 

R. L, 486. 

Warrenton, Va., 649. 

Warwick, R. I., 383. 

Washacum, Sterling, 48, 49, 54, 70. 

Washacum Farm, Sterling, 69. 

Washacum Ponds, Sterling, 35, 52. 

Washington, D. C, 137. 402, 459, 489, 509, 
539. 548, 558, 561. 570, 575, 577. 582, 583, 585, 
589, 591, 594, 600, 60Q, 610, 629, 631. 

Wataquadock Hill, Bolton, 18, 445. 

Water Street, 16, 17, 40, 44, 62, 71, 105, 106, 
108, 144, 145, 147, 163, 168, 176, 179, 181, 
184, 190, 219, 265, 270, 341, 351, 357, 375, 
378,381,382,385. 391, 399, 407, 426, 436, 
469, 477, 481, 494. 498. 

Waterloo, Va., 589. 

Waterbury, Vt., 394. 

Watertown, 35, 36, 38, 40, 45, 56, n8, 385, 397, 
482. 

Waterville, Maine, 134. 



684 



INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 



Wayland, 425, 497. 

Webster, 335, 4^7, 546, 643. 

West Berlin, 395. 

West Boylston, i, 54, 137, 193, 194, 196, 258, 
327, 328, 329, 34S, 305, 395, 390. 398, 419, 
447, 449, 451, 471, 480, 481, 486, 510, 518, 
535, 642. 

West Bridgewater, 159, 160. 

West Brooktield, 487. 

West Cambridge, 306, 640. 

West Indies, 79. 

West Medford, 487. 

West Point, Va., 98, no, 559. 

West Quincy, 487. 

West Riding, Yorkshire, England, 34. 

Westboro, 137, 182. 

Westfield, 483. 

Westminster, i, 3S6. 535. 

Westmoreland, N. H., So. 

Weston, 73, 74, 449, 487. 

White Plains, N. \'., no. 

Whitehall N. C, 569. 

Whitinsville, Uxbridge, 513. 

Wigan, England, 34. 

Wilder Community (see District No. 11), 91, 

95- 
Wilder Hill, 7, 9, 18. 
Wilderness, Va., 616, 618, 639, 643, 649. 
Williamsburg, 4S7. 
Williamstown, 459. 
Wilhmantic, Ct., 394. 
Wilmington, N. C, 608, 655. 
Wilmington & Weldon Railroad, 608, 625, 

629. 



Wilson Hill, 4, 7, 18, 301, 319, 329. 

"Wilson Hill Road," 292. 

Wilton. N. H., 392. 456. 

Winchendon, 327, 328, 486. 

Winchester, Va., 559, 630, 632. 

Winter Street, 17, 513. 

Wisconsin, 332, 509. 539. 

Woburn, 487. 

Wonchesi.x, 60. 

Woodruft Heights, 5, 8. 

Woodstock, Ct., 659. 

Woonsocket, R. I., 442. 

Worcester, 5, 18, 21, 24, 26, 33, 35, ']'], 94, loi, 
iiS, 123, 137, 146, 202, 208, 221, 240, 251, 
253, 254, 255, 256, 257, 258, 265, 329, 330, 
342, 345, 347, 355, 366, 374, 375, 383, 364, 
386,387,391, 395, 400, 403, 407, 417, 421, 
441, 442, 451, 458, 478, 481, 485, 4S7, 509, 
511, 512, 518, 533, 541, 542, 544, 546, 547, 
548, 561, 563, 564, 575, 576, 587, 601, 628, 
634, 640, 641, 643, 645, 646, 647, 650. 

Worcester County, 41, 83, 94, 154, 173, 219, 
244, 278, 2S0, 281, 424, 428. 429, 439, 546, 
555, 577, 57S. 

Worcester District, Methodist Church, 481. 

Wrentham, 131, 180, 298. 

Wurtemburg, Germany, 333. 

Yonkers, N. Y., 256. 
York River, Va., 624. 
Yorkshire, England, 34, 330. 
Yorktown, Va., 559. 

Zietz, Saxony, 643. 



NDEX OF SUBJECTS* 



Academy Building, Lancaster, 503. 

Adams' Arithmetic, 189. 

Address before Wool Manufacturers' Asso- 
ciation, E. B. Bigelow, 192. 

Address on Wool Industry of U. S., E. B. 
Bigelow, 237. 

Addresses and Speeches, Robert C.Winthrop, 
192. 

Adjutant-General of Mass., Report of, 579. 

Adventists, Second, 390. 

Advertisement for Recruits, Civil War, 572. 

Agents, School, 187. 

"Agnes Surriage," E. L. Bynner, 305, 417. 

Agricultural Implements, Manufacture of, 
361. 

Albany Morning Express, 420. 

Albert Estate, 129. 

Algonquin Club, Boston, 523. 

Alpjonquin Tribes, 35. 

Allair Works, New York, 520. 

Allen House, ^i, 74, 366. 

Allen-Lowe Faim, 175. 



Allen Mill, 69, "]■},, 85, 167, 354. 

Almshouse. See Poor Farm. 

American Academy of Arts aud Sciences, 239. 

American Central Insurance Co., 158. 

American Cyclopaedia, 146. 

American First Class Book, 189. 

American Home Missionary Society, 461. 

American House, 399, 400. 

"American" Party, 331. 

American School Reader, 264. 

"American Steam Engine Practice," 379. 

American Unitarian Association, 497. 

American Waters, 565. 

Americans, no, 192, 231, 232. 

Amherst Academy, 307. 

Amherst College, 240, 298, 299, 300, 307, 450. 

Amherst's Expedition, 129. 

Amoskeag Co., 246. 

Andover Council, 451. 

Andover Theological Seminary, 449, 450, 455- 

Andrew's Sharp Shooters, 650. 

Andrew's Stables, 404. 



* This does not include persons or places. 



INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 



685 



Anthracite, 20, 27. 

Antioch College, 500. 

Anti-Slavery Movement, 536, 538-9, 590. 

Anti-Slavery Resolves of Congregationalist 

Church, 451-2. 
Appleton's Dictionary of Mechanics, 192, 198. 
Appleton Mills, Lowell, 257. 
Argillite. See Slate, 
.^rmy of the James, 615, 616, 61S-621, 629. 
Army of Potomac, 548-562, 570, 5S2-595, 596, 

618, 626, 629. 
Army of the Shenandoah, 615, 629-633. 
Army of Virginia, 558-9, 582. 
Artillery. See Number of Regiments. 
Association of Gentlemen, 418. 
Athenaeum Seminary, Brooklyn. 267. 
Atlantic Monthly, 234, 237. 
Attic Hall, 391-2, 481. 
Augur Hospital, 651. 
Avery Lactate Company, 346. 

Bailey Estate, 331, ^57. 

Baker, E. D., Post 64, G. A. R., 354. 

Band, Clinton Brass, 360. 

Bancroft Buildings, 385-388, 397. 436, 440. 441. 

Bancroft Store, 340. 

Band of Hope, 532. 

Bank Building. 379, 382, 434, 522. 

Bank, Clinton Co-operative, 443. 

Bank, Clinton Savings, 314, 323, 347. 35i. 353. 
368^5721 389, 421, 424. 4401 443- 

BanK, First National, 252, 315, 343, 351, 353, 
354, 369, 370-372, 3S9, 424, 436. 

Bank, Lancaster National, 402, 443, 522. 

Baptist Choir, 391. 

Baptist Church, 134, 256, 301, 365, 366, 367, 
375. 380, 393, 401. 441, 443, 464-479. 542, 574- 

Baptist Church, Harvard, 464. 

Baptist Church, Spencer, 479. 

Baptist Society, 132, 176, 177, 191, 252, 326, 
365. 397. 407. 436. 464-479- 

Baptist Sunday .School, 3S0, 477. 

Baptists, 132. 257, 266, 439. 446, 44S, 45S, 464- 
479. 480. 

Batrachia, 31. 

Battles. See Index of Places : Ball's Bluff, 
Berryville, West Point, Fair Oaks, 
Gaines' Mill, Savage Station, Glendale, 
Malvern Hill. — Roanoke Island, New- 
bern. South Mills, Kingston, Whitehall, 
Goldsborough, Gum Swamp, — Cedar 
Mountain, Manassas Junction, Chan- 
tilly. South Mountain, .Antietam, Fred- 
ericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, 
Bristoe Station. Mine Run, — Blue 
Springs, Knoxville, — Fort Bisland or 
Irish Bend, Port Hudson, — Mansfield, 
Pleisant Hill or Sabine Cross Roads, — 
Wilderness, Spottsylvania Court House, 
North Anna, Port Walthal Junction, 
Chesterfield Junction, Arrowfield Church. 
Drewry's Bluff, Cold Harbor, Bethesda 
Church, Crater Assault on Petersburg, 
Weldon Railroad, Pegram Farm,— New 
Market, Piedmont, Lynchburg,Opequan, 
Cedar Creek. 

Battle House, Mobile, 422. 

Bay State Skirt Co. lEr.), 413, 356. 

Beaman's Mills, West Boylston, 194, 396. 

Bears, 81. 

Bible in Schools. 296-297. 

"Big Boarding-House." 32S, 331, 407. 



Bigelow Carpet Company, 16, 43, 151, 167, 

202, 234, 242, 243-249. 251, 2,5, 256, 257, 25S, 

270, 344. 351. 365. 372. 379. 413. 518. 
Bigelow Carpet Co.'s Dam and Reservoir, 15. 
Bigelow Carpet Co.'s Machine Shop, 351. 
Bigelow Carpet Co.'s Worsted Mill, 205, 379, 

420. 
Bigelow Carpet Loom, 256. 
Bigelow Carpet Mills, 18, 217, 228, 242, 243- 

249, 250, 253, 254, 255, 256, 352, 357, 358, 359, 

363, 36s, 370. 371, 398, 461. 
Bigelow Free Public Library, 239, 310, 311. 

354, 409, 414. 428, 439, 441. 443- 
Bigelow Homebtead, West Boylston, 193, 
Bigelow Library Association. 246, 251, 310, 

325,364,412-414, 532. 534- ^ 
Bigelow Library Building. See Library 

Building. 
Bigelow Mechanics Institute, 239, 251. 351, 

359. 37S. 3S5. 391, 409-411. 412, 423- 
Bigelow's Express, 375. 
Bigelow's (H. N.) Grove, 57S. 
Bigelow's (E. B.) Looms, 326. 
Bigelow's (H. N.) Residence, 363. 
Biographical Encyclopaedia of .Massachu- 
setts. 192. 
Bingham Place, 124. 
Biotite, 27. 
Birds, 31-2. 

Blacksmith Shop, 352, 359. 
Blankets, Making of, 249. 
Blood Building, 405, 517. 
Bloomery. See Forge. 
Board of Trade, 363. 

Boarding-Houses of Lancaster Mills, 225. 
Boarding- Houses of Poignand & Plant's 

Mills, 148-9. 
Bog Iron Ore, 27. 
Bolton Gneiss, 23. 
Books in i8th Century, 89. 
Boot and Shoe Manufacturing, 132. 163, 175, 

359-360. 
Boston Dental College, 443. 
Boston Gazette, 93. 
Boston Latin School, tii, 307, 469. 
Boston Massacre, 92. 
Boston. Siege of, 96, 97, 99. 
Boston University Law School, 521. 
Botany, 27-30. 
Boulders, 23, 24, 25. 

Boundary of Clinton, 273-4, 279, 280, 282-3. 
Bounties in Civil War, 571-2, 57S, 659. 
Bounties in Revolution, 99, loi. 
j Bourne's Store, 395, 
j Bowman Building, 403, 404. 
Bowman Dwelling-House, 399. 
Boyden Turbine Wheel, 318, 378. 
I Boys of iSth Century, 86. 
Bradford Academy, 194. 
Brass Band. Clinton, 360, 533, 534, 545. 
Brick Church, Lancaster, iig, 173, 177, 445-6, 

454. 467. 492- 
Brick Kiln (near Mine Swamp Brook), 114, 

121, 122, 145. 
Brick School-House, District No. 10. 186-187, 

259, 264, 447, 480. 
Bricks, First, in Lancaster, 44. 
Bride's School (Berlin), 265, 342, 346, 440. 
Bridges, 177-178. See Roads, Names of 

Bridges. 
Brigham's Mills, 109. 
Brimfield (Er.) Fibrolite Schist, 23. 



686 



INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 



Brimhall's Block. 35g. 366, 387, 402. 495. 

British Army, 380. 

British Fleet, 127. 

Brooks, 5-17. See Names of Brooks. 

Brown's, John, Raid, 538. 

Brown University, 134, 180, 267, 393, 437, 469. 

492, 497- 
Brush Manufacture, 359. 
Brussels Carpet Loom, 213, 230-234. 
Brussels Carpets, 198, 199. 230-234. 243-249, 

.328, 346. 349. 350, 358, 398, 413, 457- 
Builders. See Carpenters, Masons, etc. 
Burditt, Alfred A.. Building, 396-397. 
Burdett, Augustus P., Block, 359, 390-392, 

393. 396, 397, 407, 41 J, 440, 441, 442, 443. 481, 

521. 
Burdett & Fiske Block. See A. P. Burdett 

Block. 
Burdett, Dr. George W., Building, 441. 
Burdett Hall. See Attic Hall. 
Burdett's, H. A., Store, 388, 397, 398. 
Burdett, John (Dea.), Buildings, 389-390, 395, 

435, 482. 
Burdett- Maynard Farm, 164, 175. 
Burdett, Nathan, House. See Sawyer-Bur- 

dett House, 
Burgoyne's Army, 98, 129. 
Burgoyne's Canipaign, 96. 
Butler (Simon) Estate, 127-12S. 
Butler (Joseph) House, 128. 
Butterfield's Stables, 366. I 

Camden Advertiser, 416. 

Cameron House, 217, 326. 

Cameron Mill, 326. 

Cannon House, 129. 

Capital and Labor, 23S. 

Carboniferous Age, 20-21. ■• 

Carpenters, 119-121, 253-4, 360-367. 

Carpet I5ags, Manufacture of, 358. 

Carpet Company. See Bigelow Carpet Co. 

Carpet Mills. See Bigelow Carpet Mills. , 

Carruth House. See Fuller-Carruth House. ; 

Carter's Building, 398. [ 

Carter's Mill, 26, 62, 69, 354. 

Carville Estate. See Wilder-Carville Estate. 

Catalogue of Bigelow Library Association, 

Geo. W. Weeks, 413-14. 
Cataract Engine Co., 2^9, 353. 
Cataract Engine House, 289. 
Cataract Engine No. 2, 288, 292. , 

Catholic Cemetery, 287, 510. 
Catholic Cliurch in Clinton, 505-515. 
Catholic Church in Worcester, 509, 510, 511. ! 
Catholic Emancipation, 506. 
Catholics, 287, 296, 336. 
Cavalry. See Number of Regiments. 
Cavalry, New York, 594. 
Cavalry, New Jersey, 594, 642. 
Celebrations, 534-6. 
Cemetery, 271, 287, 292. 

Cemetery Corporation, 287. ' 

Centennial, 1876, 235. 
Central Church, Boston, 241. 
Central Congregational Cnurch, Worcester, i 

240. 
Centralville Academy, Lowell, 379. | 

Century Sermon, Rev. Timothy Harrington, 

33- 
Chace, Charles H., Building, 406-40^. 
Chace House. See Tucker-Chace Estate. 
'"Chapel,"' The, 265, 447-8, 452, 468, 470. 



Chi Delta Theta Society, 30S. 

Chiastolite, 25, 27. 

Christian Register, 499. 

Church Meetings in 17th Century, 47. 

City National Bank, Worcester, 251. 

City Bank of Worcester, 251. 

Civil Engineers, 378-380. 

Civil War, 239, 292, 314, 3i5- 320, 33o, 333, 335. 
364, 365, 372, 374, 375, 378, 392, 417, 418,419, 
420, 424, 439, 476, 49i5, 505, 515, 537-659- 

Civil War, Expenses of, 612-613. 

Claflin University, 485. 

Clarendon Mills, West Boylston, 327. 

Clay, 27. 

Clerks for Corporations, 253. 

Clerks, Lancaster Mills, 323-324. 

Clinton Bakery, 404. 

Clinton Brass Band. See Brass Band. 

Clinton Company, 9, 14, 192, 202-211, 219, 227, 
228, 230, 243, 244, 246, 247, 248, 249, 250, 254, 
255, 257, 258, 317, 328, 349, 351,354,373,376, 
413- 443, 506, 606. 

Clinton Company Mill, 217, 219, 256, 326, 358, 

^,. 454- ^ 

Clinton Company's Machine Shop, 349-350, 
398. 

Clinton Cornet Band, 545. 

Clinton Courant. See Courant. 

Clinton Division, No. 67, Sons of Temper- 
ance. See Temperance, Sons of. 

Clinton Foundry Company, 353. 

Clinton Foundry. See Palmer's Foundry. 

Clinton Gas Light Company, 244, 315, 371, 

372-373- 
Clinton House Hall Building, 300, 315, 364, 

377, 394-395, 416, 458, 493, 533, 534, 543, 545, 

556, 573- 
Clinton House, 202, 240, 241, 252, 263, 362, 376- 

377, 387, 389, 395, 397, 398, 400, 402, 436. 44°. 

495, 535, 536. 
Clinton Royal Arch Chapter, Free Masons, 

365- 
Clinton Light Guard. See Light Guard. 
Clinton Savings Bank. See Savings Bank. 
Clinton Wire Cloth Company. See Wire 

Cloth Company. 
Clinton Wire Cloth Mills. See Wire Mills. 
Clinton Yarn Company, 366. 
Clintonville Hotel. See f avern. 
Clintonville Machine Shop, 247. 
Clintonville Mechanics' Total Abstinence 

Society, 530-531. 
Clover Club, 523. 
Coachlace Loom, 196-202, 350. 
Coachlace Mill. See Canton Company's 

Mills. 
Coast Division, 565. 
Colburn's Mental Arithmetic, 264. 
Colonial Wars. 63, 65-67, 77-7S, 90-92, 505. 
Colorado (ship), 656, 657. 
Columbia College, 359. 
Comb-making, 139-140, 160, 162-1S2, 337-344. 
Coming of the Bigelows, 192-215. 
Commercial Development of Clinton, 381- 

408. 
Commercial Steamboat Company, 417. 
Committee of Correspondence, 94. 
Commodore (steamer) , 643. 
Commons, 38, 43, 48, 52. 
Commonwealth, 308. 
Company, Nashaway, 37, 43. 
Compositors in Courant Office, 4i^42«. 



INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 



687 



Concert Hall, 390, 482. 

Confederacy, 537-6^9. 

Confederate Privateers, 557. 

Conglomerate, 20. 

Congregationalist Benevolent Society, 463. 

Congregationalist Church, 255, 257, 258, 265, 

272, 2S5, 331, 342, 348, 357. 365. 366, 372, 

444-463, 543. 
Congregationalist Church, Lancaster, 446. 
Congregationalist Church, W. Boylston, 396. 
Congregationalists, 241, 299, 307, 328, 331, 347, 

365,44463,468. . 
Congregationalist society, 250, 252, 351, 389, 

400, 407, 421, 426, 429, 444-63, 
Congress. loi, 235, 231S. 
Conservative Party, 238. 
Continental (steamer), 603. 
Continental Army, 97, 98, 99. 
Continentals, 534, 536. 
Conventions after Revolution, 103. 
Cooper Institute. New York, 520. 
Corliss Steam Engine Company, Providence, 

R, I., 520. 
Corn Mill at Groton, 46. 
Corn Mill, See Prescott's Mills, 
Cornet Band. .See Clinton Cornet Band. 
Cornet Band, Worcester, 535. 
Cornwallis, The, 534, 535-6. 
Corps D'Affrique, 644. 
"Corps of Observation," Army of Potomac, 

54S, 558. 
Correspondence, Committee of, 94. 
Cotton Cloth, First Manufacture of, under ' 

factory system, 146-147. 1 

Counterpane Mill, 40, 211-212, 256, 355, 366, 1 

399. 432. 
Counterpane Loom (ist). Invention of, 196. 
Counterpane Loom, (2d) Specifications of 

Patentee, 210-11. 
Counterpane Pond Nuisance, 314. 
Counterpanes, 211-212. 
Courant, 136, 161, 192, 265, 278, 291,320,324, 

354, 358, 373, 374, 384,388, 392, 414-421, 432, 

446, 477, 478, 482, 494, 495, 5i3, 532, 542, 545, 
r. 547, 5j,2, 556, 563, 572, 575, 576, 5S8, 6i2, 649. 
Courant Block, 396, 402, 403, 406, 442. 
Courant Office, 420. 
Court House, 370, 379. 
Courts, 93. 

Crescent (steamer), 604. 
Cummings' Geography, 189. 
Cummings' House, 402, 406. 
Currency in Revolution, loi. 
Cuyler (ship). 656. 
Cyane (ship), 657. 

Daguerrean Artists, 397-8. 
Dale (ship), 656. 
Dame Estate, 357. 

Dams. See names of particular dams in In- 
dex of Places. 
Dartmouth College, 240, 422, 425. 
Dartmouth Medical School, 435, 438, 440. 
Dartt's Store, 401. 

Debt of Clinton, Table, 1850-1865, 286. 
Deer, 81. 

Deer's Horns School-house, 88. 
Deer's Horns Squadron, 83. 
Deer Island Reformatory, 489. 
Democrats, 327, 427, 522. 
Democratic National Conventions, 523. 
Democratic Party, 238, 364. 



Democratic State Committee, 519, 523. 
Department of South (Civil War), 570. 
Dexter's Rink, 389. 
Diabase, 27. 

Dikes Metropolitan Water Supply, 4. 
Doctors of i8th Century, 8g. 
Docun.ents: — 
Petition for a road to Lancaster, 37-38. 
John Cowdall's Deed, 38-39. 
Contract for Prescott's Corn Mill, 40-41. 
" " Saw Mill, 42-43. 

Various Papers on Lands of John Pres- 

cott 1st, 47-50. 
Will of John Prescott ist, 51-53. 
Petition for Aid to Lancaster, 1676, 57-58. 
Petition for Re-settlement of Lancaster, 59. 
Deposition of Thomas Wilder, 59. 
Inventory of Estate of John Prescott 3d, 

86-87. 
Resolutions of Lancaster on British Tyr- 
anny, 93-94. 
Pay and Bounty of Soldiers in Revolution, 

99-100. 
Request for Warrant for First School Meet- 
ing, District No. 10, 183-184. 
Act of Incorporation of Clinton Company, 

202. 
Financial Statement of Clinton Company, 

204, 205. 
Specifications for Secood Counterpane 

Loom, 210-21 1. 
Act of Incorporation of Lancaster Mills, 

219-220. 
.Specification of Patent for Gingham Loom, 

223. 
Act of Incorporation of Bigelow Carpet 

Company, 244-245. 
Records of School 13istrict No. 10 (sample 

copy), 259-260. 
Report of Committee on Division of Lan- 
caster, 273-277. 
Petition concerning Division of Lancaster, 

278-279. 
Act to Incorporate the Town of Clinton, 

280-282. 
Anti-Slavery Resolves of Congregational- 
ists, 451-452. 
Charter of Old Trinity Lodge, Free Ma- 
sons, 524-525. 
Letter of Henry Greenwood from Rebel 

Prison, 554-55. 
Speech of Franlilin Forbes, presenting a 
Sword to Capt. Henry Bowman, 557-58. 
Vote of Town in regard to Bounties, Civil 

War, 570-571. 
Advertisement for Recruits, Civil War, 572. 
Letter of Col. Henry Bowman. 576-577. 
Notes of Fifty-third Regiment E.xperiences, 

603. 
Official Report of Attack on Port Hudson, 

606-607. 
Letters from Sanitary Commission, 613-14. 
Welcome Home to the Soldiers of the Civil 
War, C. G. Stevens, 634-636. 
Doctors. See Physicians. 
Doggett's Block. 379, 392. 
Door, Sash and Blind Making, 361-362. 
Dorrison House, 75, 190. 
Draft, The, 577-578, 608-609. 
Drafted Men, 659. 
Drift, 24, 25. 
Drill Club, 574. 



688 



INDEX Of^ SUBJECTS. 



Drowning Accident at Sandy Pond, 115-116. 
Drowning Accident at Mine Swamp Biook, 

121-122. 
Dudley, Gov., Petition to, 65. 
Dunbar House, 448, 
Duties, Custom, 103. 
Dye House, Lancaster Mills, 225. 

Early Records of Lancaster, H. S. Nourse, 33. 

East Indian Merchant, iii. 

East Village, 481. 

Easthampton Academy, 250. 

Eastport (ship), 656. 

Educational Work of Franklin Forbes. 30S- 

311- 
Eighteenth Century, 60-133. 
Eighteenth Century, Closing Years of, 103. 
Eighteenth Corps, 618 ,621, 622, 624, 625, 627. 
Eighty-fourth Regiment, New York, 658. 
Eighty-sixth Regiment U,S. Colored Troops, 

647. 
Eighty-third Regiment, New York, 65S. 
Elder Farm, 123, 280. 
Elevations, Table of, 17. 
Eleventh Corps, 592. 
Eleventh Regiment, 559, 584, 589, 638. 
Elmonton Academy, N. H., 300. 
Emancipation Proclamation, 591. 
Emerson Farm, 167. 
Emerson's First Part, 264, 
Employees of Lancaster Mills, 322-336. 
Enheld Rifles, 564. 
Engine House No. 1, 292. 
Engine House No. 2. 292. 
Engineer Corps, 610, 651. 
English Army, 516. 
English Government, 92, 
English Language, 142, 150, 197, 265, 300, 335. 
Englishman, 129, 143, 329. 
English Mills, 144. 
Episcopalians, 460. 
Episcopal Ministry, 299. 
Episcopal Society, 504. 
Episcopal Parish, 425. 
European Travel, 230. 
Evangelical Congregationalists. See Con- 

gregationalists. 
Evans' House, 108. See Prescott House, 

New. 
Everett Lodge No. 31, Independent Order of 

Good Templars, 532. 
Express Business, 374-75. 

Fairbanks' Market, 365. 

Farming, i8th Century, 83, 84. 

Farmers and Millwrights, 73-89, 

Farms of Lancaster, Products of, in 1771, 84. 

Feast of St. John, the Baptist, 526. 

Feldspar, 27. 

Festival of St. John, the Evangelist, 526. 

Field, C. \V., Building, 387-388, 4i5, 527, 532. 

Fifteenth Corps, 598. 

Fifteenth Regiment, Massachusetts, 324, 355, 
420, 52S-6, 537-62, 563, 564, 575, 576, 582-95, 
59S, 607, 609, 616, 618, 621, 622, 625, 638-642, 
649. 653- 

Fifth Avenue Hotel, New York, 422. 

Fifth Cavalry, 610, 655. 

Fifth Corps, 584, 621. 

Fifth Regiment, Maine, 658. 

Fifth Regiment, 570, 651, 653. 

Fifty-first Regiment, 570, 629, 650, 651. 



Fifty-first Regiment, New York, 582, 583. 
Fifty-tirst Regiment, Pennsylvania, 582. 
Fifty-ninth Regiment, New York, 658. 
Fifty-seventh Regiment, 618, 648, 650, 651. 
Fifty-sixth Regiment, 643, 644 
Fifty-third Regiment, 419, 601-607, 641, 648, 

651 652, 653. 
Fire Department, 287-290. 
Fires in Clinton, 1850-1865, 209. 
First Baptist Church. See Baptist Church. 
First Battalion Cavalry, 656. 
First Battalion, i6th Regiment, 637. 
First Cavalry, 570, 584. 
First Corps, 585, 592. 
First Evangelical Congregationalist Church. 

See Congregationalist Church. 
First Evangelical Congregationalist Church, 

Lancaster, 446. 
First National Bank of Clinton. See Bank, 

First National. 
First Regiment, 5S9, 637. 
First Regiment, Cavalry, 584, 654. 
First Regiment Light Artillery, U. S. A., 

639, 641. 
First Unitarian Society of Clinton. See 

Unitarian Society. 
Fish, 31. 

Fiske Brass Band, Worcester, 533. 
Fiske, Burdett &, Block. See Burdett, A. P. 

Block. 
Fitch Block, 403. 
Fitch Place, 120. 
Fitchburg Granite, 25. 
"Flag" (ship), 657. 
Flag staff, 293. 
Flankers, 44. 
Fletcher House, 401. 
"Fletcher Reminiscences," 104. 
Forbes', Franklin, House, 364. 
Forge, The, 74, 117. 
Fort Hindman (ship), 656. 
Fortune Telling, 123. 
Forty-second Regiment, 610, 653. 
Forty-fifth Regiment, Pennsylvania, 597, 617. 
Forty-second Regiment, New York, 658. 
Forty-seventh Regiment, 637. 
Forty-sixth Regiment, 647. 
Fossils, 26-27. 

Foundry. See Palmer's Foundry. 
Fourteenth Connecticut Regiment, 658-659. 
Fourteenth Louisiana Volunteers, 647. 
Fourteenth U.S. Colored Infantry, 659. 
Fourth Corps, 559. 

Fourth Massachusetts District, Congres- 
sional, 238. 
Fourth Regiment Cavalry, 609, 615, 621, 629, 

633, 654-655. 
Fourth Regiment, New Hampshire, 626, 640. 
Fourth Regiment U. S. Cavalry, 643. 
Framingham Academy, 347, 420. 
Franklin Hook and Ladder Company, 289. 
p-ranklin Medal, 30S. 
Franklin Street Barracks, 602. 
Free Chapel, Lowell, 312. 
Free Masons, 108, in, 257, 328. 353, 355, 365, 

38S, _44i. 524-528. 
Free Soil Party, 404. 
Free State Settlers in Kansas, 315. 
Freedmen's Bureau, 299. 
Freemen, 40, 47. 
Fremont Club, 351. 
French and Indian War, 65, 90-92, 99, 118, 125, 



INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 



689 



i2g, 130. 
French Language, 141, 142, 150, 157, 264. 
Frenchmen, 63, 75, 8g, 90-92, 129, 143, 162. 
Freshet of 1876, 13-14, 24. 
Fuller, James. House, 128. 
Fuller-Carrutn House, 12S, 136. 
Fuller's (A. L.) Mills, 354-356. 
Fuller's Planing Mill, 12, 219, 361, 693. 

Gardner News. 419. 

Garrison House, Prescott's, 44, 46, 64. 

Garrisons, Frontier, 66. 

Gas Light Company. See Clinton Gas 

Light Company. 
General Court, 37, 39, 41, 45, 48, 49, 50, 57, 59, 

94, 103, 154, 202, 219, 220, 245, 251, 271, 278, 

280, 332, 357, 361, 368, m, 402, 408, 436, 

443-522, 541- . . , „ 

Gentlemen, An Association of, 418. 
Geology of Clinton, 20-26. 
Geological Changes at Present Time, 27. 
Geometry, 264. 
Georgetown University, 521. 
Germans, 31S, 333-336, 55*, 564- 
German Churcn, 336, 372. 
German Operatives, 334. 
Gibbs Loom Harness & Reed Company, 251, 

315,358,371- 
Ginghams, 147, 247. See Lancaster Mills. 
Gingham Loom, Patent of, 223. 
Girls, i8th Century, 86. 
Glacial Marks, 24. 
Glaciers, 23-25. 
Glass, 44. 

Goldsmith's Poems, 142. 
Good Templars, 342, 532. 
Goss-Allen Mill, 69, 167. 
Goss House, 130. 
Gould, Benjamin, House, 110-112. See 

Lowe, John, House. 
Grammar School, 298. See High SchooL 
Grammar School-house, 293, 297-298, 521. 

See High School-house. 
Grand Locks, Lowell, 316. 
Grand Army Memorial Record. 547. 
Grand Army of the Republic, E. D. Baker 

Post, 354. 
Grand Lodge, Free Masons, 527. 
Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, Free 

Masons, 525. 
Granite, 6, 7, 11, 17, 22, 27. 
Graphite, 20, 27. 
Gray's Poem's, 142. 
Great Exhibition, London (1851), 231. 
Great Western (ship) , 656. 
Greek, 264. 

Greeley, Henry C, Block, 385. 
Greene, Gilbert, Buildings, 361, 388-389, 397- 

39S, 427, 436, 442. 
Greene, Levi, Dwelling-House, 399. 
Greene, Oliver, Building, 403. 
Greenleaf's Introduction. 264. 
Greenleaf's National Arithmetic, 264. 
Grievance, Committee of, 93-94. 
Groton, Corn Mill at, 46, 54. 

Hale House, 167. 
Hahnemann Medical School, 436. 
Hancock Academy, 393, 441. 
Hancock's Second Corps, 616. 
Hard Timess, 320, 417, 462, 612. 
Harris, ."Vsahel, House, Shops, 181. 

47 



Harris, Daniel, House and Farm, 176. 

Harris, Emory, House and Farm, 179. 

Harris (Sidney) Comb Shops, 4, 218, 270,337- 
344, 413- 

Harris (Sidney) Hall, 341, 527, 528, 529, 532. 

Harris (Sidney) House, 106, 131. 

Harugari, 335. 

Harvard Baptist Church, 466. 

Harvard College, 76, iii, 113, 150, 180, 240, 
307, 434, 494, 497- 

Harvard Divinity School, 492, 497, 498, 500. 

Harvard Law School, 425. 

Harvard Medical School, 434, 437, 438, 440. 

Harrington, Rev. Timothy, Century Ser- 
mon, Tji- 

Heagney's Drug Store, 395. 

Hearse and Harness, 292. 

Heckman's Brigade. See Star Brigade. 

Hessians, 129. 

High School, Clinton, 250, 263-267, 268, 269, 

296. 297-300, 324, 331, 346, 347, 410, 420, 448, 

520. 
High School, Clinton, Alumni of, 266. 
High School Building, 261, 293, 297-298, 364. 
High School, Gloucester, 300. 
High School, Leominster, 298. 
High School, Lowell, 30S, 313. 
High School, Nashua, 300. 
High School, .Springfield, 300. 
Hio^hways. See Roads. 
Hillside Church, 445-446, 451. 
Historical Address, Joseph Willard, 33. 
Historical Sketch of Lancaster, HenryS. 

Noursej y},. 
Historical Society, Clinton, 116, 363, 432. 
"History of Lancaster," Rev A.P.Marvin,33 
"History of New England," John Winthrop 

"History of Old Trinity Lodge of Lan- 
caster," Jonathan Smith, 524. 

"History of vValtham," H. Bond, 146. 

Hoadley House, 108,399. See Prescott House, 
New. 

Hoadley Portable Engine, 378. 

Holy Cross College, Worcester, 509, 521. 

Hook & Ladder House, 292. 

Hook & Ladder Wagon, 292. 

Hoop Skirt Making, 355-356. 

Hopkinton Academy, N. H., 300. 

Hornblende Schist, 6, 20, 22, 27. 

Hose Carriage, 2S9, 293. 

Hospital, Clinton-Lancaster, 363, 439. 

House of Representatives, 154, 202, 278, 280, 
282, 353, 443, 541- 

House Raising, 120. 

Howard (George) Farm. 167. 

Howard's (George) Comb-shop, 167. 

Howard, Sidney, 124. 

Howards' Stables, 3S6, 402, 406. 

Howe House, 122. 

Howell House, 359, 399. 

Hudson House, 128. 

Huguenots, 140, 487. 

Hundredth Regiment, Pennsylvania, 616. 

Hunneman Fire Engine, 28S. 

Hunt's Merchants' Magazine, 192. 

Hunt Place, 176. See Harris, Daniel, Place. 

Huron (ship), 656. 

Huzzah (.ship), 3S6. 

"Hydraulics," Franklin Forbes, 310. 

"Hymn and Tune Book," Rev. L. J. Liver- 
more, Editor, 497. 



690 



INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 



Incorporation of Clinton, 269-283. 

Increase (sliip), iiS. 

Indian Grant, ^jo. 

Indian Graves, 57. 

Indians, 3, 35, 36, 44, 45, 47, 48, 54-59,, 63, 65, 

67, 75, go-92. See names of Tribes and 

Individuals. 
Industrial School, Lancaster, 364, 503. 
Ingrain Carpet Looms, 212-215, 236. 
"Infidelity of the Times," Rev. William H. 

Corning, 453. 
"Initials and Pseudonyms," Rev. William 

Gushing, 497. 
Institute of Technology, Massachusetts, 239. 
Intemperance, iSth Century, 85. 
Intervale of Nashua, 5. See Nashua River. 
Inventive Process, The, 199-201. 
Investig'ation, Committee of, 353. 
Irish Citizens, 129, 149, 207-208, 318, 320, 331, 

332-333, 335, 435, 505-523, 563- 
Irish Famine, 507-508. 
Iron Pyrites, 27. 
Iron Works, 41. 
Isaac Smith (sliip), 656. 

Jacquard Brussels Carpet Loom, 230-234, 236. 

Jersey Cows, 254. 

Jewett Building, 255, 406. 

John Brown's Raicf, 538-539. 

Juniata (ship), 656, 657. 

Jury, Trial ijy, 93. 

Kansas Emigrants, 315, 538. 

Kansas Mortgages, •^00. 

Keene Academy, N. H., 438. 

Kellogg Estate, 396. 

Kelly Building, 405, 5i6. See Peirce, A. H., 
Building. 

Kendall's Block, 360, 382-385, 388, 393, 400, 
408, 411, 423, 427, 434, 442, 519- 

Kendall Cottage, 398-399, 423, 435- 

Kimball Union Academy, Meriden, N. H., 
300. 

King Philip's War, 55-58. 

King William's War, 63. 

Knight House, 400. 

Knight's "American Mechanical Diction- 
ary," 192, 214. 

"Know Nothing," or American Party, 331. 

Ladies' Benevolent Society. See Congre- 

g'ationalist Ladies' Benevolent Society. 
Ladies' Benevolent Society. See Methodist j 

Ladies' Benevolent Society. 
Ladies' Sewing Circle. See Baptist Ladies' 

Sewing Circle. 
Lake Street Elevated Railroad, Chicago, 520. 
Lancaster, Abandonment of, 57, 58. 
"Lancaster, Early Records of," Hon. H. S. 

Nourse, 33. 
"Lancaster, History of," Rev. A. P. Marvin. 
Lancaster, Indian Attack on, 1676, 55-57. 
Lancaster, Name of, 39. 
Lancaster, Population of, 82. 
Lancaster, Purchase of, 35. 
Lancaster Records, 68, 70, 74. 
Lancaster, Report on Division of, 273-277. 
Lancaster, Re-settlement, 59. 
Lancaster, Second Indian Attack, 63. 
Lancaster, Settlement of, 35-40. 
Lancaster, Towns set off from, 82. 
Lancaster Academy, 134. 



Lancaster Artillery Company, 362. 

Lancaster Cotton Manufacturing Company, 
153-158, 190, 211, 381, 403, 468, 506. 

Lancaster Courant. See Courant. 

Lancaster House, Lancaster, 626. 

Lancaster Light Infantry, 182. 

Lancaster Lodge, I. O. O. F., 528-529. 

Lancaster Mills, i, 2, 3. 4, 26, 117, 131, 133, 
147, 158, 160, 161, 216-229, 237, 247, 248, 249, 
251, 253, 255, 257, 264, 270, 306, 308, 314, 
315-336, 338, 339, 341, 344, 362, 363, 370, 
371, 372, 376, 379, 407, 413, 453-, 454, 459, 
506, 518, 520, 564, 574, 580. See Pitts' 
Mills. 

Lancaster Quilt Company, 212, 356-357, 413, 
421. 

Lancaster Quilt Mill, 212, 257. 

Lancaster (ship), 657. 

Lancaster Troop, 97. 

Larkin Farm, 82. 

"Laundry,'' The, 149, 506. 

Lawrence Academy, Groton, 404. 

Lawrence House, 179. 

Lawrence Machine Shop, Lawrence, 378. 

Lawyers, 422-428. 

Leavitt's Readers, 264. 

Lee's Hand Stocking Loom, 224. 

Leed's Cloth Manufacturing Company, 141. 

Leeds, Yorkshire; England, 330. 

Legislature of Illinois, 520. 

Leicester Academy, 195, 196, 450. 

Leominster High School, 298. 

Leominster Hotel, 377. 

Libby Prison, Richmond, 632. 

Library Building, 356, 359, 370, 379, 384, 412, 
427, 429, 442, 562, 573- 

Library. See Bigelow Free Public Library. 

Life in 17th Century, 46, 47. 

Life at Close of iSth Century, 80-89. 

Life in First Third of 19th Century, 167-175. 

Light Guard, Clinton, 324, 353, 355, 363, 419, 
. 533-534, 535, 536, 540-546, 556, 573, 588, 602. 

Limestone, 23. 

Livery Business, 366, 386, 404-405. 

Locks & Canal Company, Lowell, 316. 

Loom Harness, 352, 357-358. See Gibbs 
Loom Harness Company. 

London Morning Chronicle, 231. 

"Lord's Barn," The, 452. 

Lovewell's War, 79, 129. 

Lowe, John, Estate, 340. 

Lowe, John, Shops^ 166-167, 179. 

Lowe, Nathaniel, Farm, 162-163, i 

Lowe. Nathaniel, Shop, 163^ 

Lowe's (Nathaniel) South Farm, 162. 

Lowell Bleachery, 317. 

Lowell Carpet Company, 242. 

Lowell Hign School, %8, 316. 

Lowell High School Association, 309. 

Lowell Manufacturing Company, 213. 

Lowell Missionary Society, 312. 

Lutherans, 336. 

Lyman House, 448. 

Lyon's Mills, 109. See Prescott's Mills. 

Machine Shop. See Parker Machine Shop. 

McLean House, 136. 

McQuaid House, 454. 

Mandamus Councillor, 95. 

Mansion School, Lancaster, 300. 

Manual Labor, High School, Worcester, 265. 

Maquas, The. See Mohawks. 



79- 



INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 



691 



Marine Corps, 658. 
Marion (ship), 656. 
Marseilles Quilts, 196. 
Masons. See Free Masons. 
Masons, 360, 361. 
Massachusetts Archives, 48, 66. 
Massachusetts Dental Association, 443. 
Massachusetts Historical Society, 239. 
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 239, 

379- 

Massachusetts Legislature, 154. 

Massachusetts Medical Society, 432. 

Massachusetts Records, 33. 

Massachusetts Spy, 94. 

Massacre of 1776, Indian, 56. 

Mastodon, 27. [Er.] 

Mayo's Tobacco House, Richmond, 553. 

Mechanic's Institute. See Bigelow Me- 
chanic's Institute. 

Mechanic's Total Abstinence Society, 404. 

Meeting-Houses in Lancaster, 65, 6S, 76, 78, 
SS, 1S4. 

Memorial of Prescott Family, 2;^. 

Merchants' Stock in Trade, 1857, 408. 

Merchants' Exchange, St. Louis, 158. 

Mercidita (ship), 60S, 653, 655. 

Meriden Academy, Meriden, N. H., 422, 42^. 

Merrifield, William T., Worcester, Build- 
ings, 254. 

Merrimac (>teamer), 576. 

Methodist Episcopal Church, 435, 480-4S1. 

Methodist Episcopal Church, Fitchburg, 484. 

Methodist Episcopal Church, South Caro- 
lina and Florida, 4S5. 

Methodist Episcopal Ladies' Benevolent 
Society, 482. 

Methodist Parsonage, 366. 

Methodist Society, 358, 366, 392, 4S0-491. 

Methodists, 252, 446, 465, 480-491, 499. 

Metropolitan Water Supply, 3-4. 

Metropolitan Steamship Company, 326. 

Mica, 27. 

Mica Schist, 23, 27. 

Michigan State Bank, 372. 

Microcline, 27. 

Middlebury College, 297. 

Middlesex County Registry, 33, 40. 

Military Annals, 79, 90-102. 

Military Service in Revolution, 96. 

Mill in Deer's Horns District, 75. 

Mill Privileges. See Nashua River and 
Names of Brooks ; also Names of Mills. 

Millers' National Convention, 158. 

Millstone, Prescott's, 41. 

Millwrights, Farmers and, 72-89. 

Mineralogy, 27. 

Ministers, 36. 

Ministry-at-Large, Lowell, 313. 

Minnesota (ship), 656. 

Minor Industries, 337-367. 

Minority Report on Division of Lancaster, 
277. 

Mississippi Campaign, 599. 

Mohawks, Maquas or Mohaugs, 3, 35, 55. 

Monson Academy, 29S. 

Montgomery (ship), 655. 

Morgan Trouble (Free Masons), 527. 

Morse's Geography, 264. 

Morse, Wilson, Cottage, 399. 

Mud Campaign, 5gi. 

Municipal Life, First Fifteen Years of, 284- 
293- 



Muscovite, 27. 

Museum of Fine Arts, 239. 

Music in Clinton, 532-3. See Church Choirs. 

Nail Making. 164. 

Napoleonic Wars, 516. 

Nashua Academy, 393. 

Nashua Hall, 529. 

Nashaway or Nashawog" Indians, 3, 35-36, 
54-59- 

Nashua High School, 300. 

National Association of Wool Manufac- 
turers, 235. 

Navy, 419, 610, 655-57. 

Negroes, 123. 

"New Brick Church," Lancaster, 444, 464. 
See Unitarian Church, Lancaster. 

New England Capitalists, 216. 

New England Conference, 4S0-4S9. 

New England Historic Genealogical Society, 
49. 

"New England Rhymes, Sacred and Pas- 
sionate," John H. Ring, 394. 

"New England, History of," John Win- 
throp, 33, 37. 

New Orleans Expedition, 596. 

New York Battery, 551. 

New York (steamer), 565, 566, 

New York Tammany Regiment, 551, 552. 

New York Tribune. 305, 469. 

New York World, 658. 

New York Zouaves, 566. 

Nichols Academy, Dudley, 519. 

Nineteenth Regiment, 551, 559, 560, 5S4, 585, 
589, 590, 592, 642. 

Ninety-ninth Regimentj Pennsylvania, 658. 

Ninth Congressional District, 523. 

Ninth Corps, 570, 582, 587, 589, sgo, 595, 596- 
601, 615-618, 621, 623, 624, 625, 627, 628. 

Ninth Regiment, 353, 363, 533, 534, 540, 541, 
, 542, 559, 560, 5S4. 589,638. 

Ninth Regiment, New York, 65S. 

Ninth U.S. Infantry, 150. 

North American Spelling-Book, 264. 

North Carolina (ship), 655, 656. 

Northern Canal, Lowell, 316. 

Northerner (steamer) , 539, 565-6. 

Nugent's, Wm. H., Block, 385. 

"Objects and Plans of the National Associa- 
tion of Wool Manufacturers," E. B. Big- 
elow, 237. 

Odd Fellows, Lancaster Lodge No. 89, 328-9, 
, 355, 357, 385- , 

Ohio (ship), 655, 656, 657. 

"Old Mill" of Amoskeag Company, 246. 

"Old Red Mill" (Clinton Company), 151. 

Old Regime, 141. 

Old South Church, Worcester, 40S. 

Old World 135. 

O'Malley House, 289. 

One Hundreth Regiment, Pennsylvania, 616. 

Operatives, Lancaster Mills, 318-319. See 
Pay Roll. 

Organization's, Various, 524-36. 

Orthodox. See Congregationalist. 

Oshkosh Herald, 416. 

Ossipee (ship), 656, 657. 

Otterson Cottage, 329, 399. 

Oxford House, 402. 

Packing House, Lancaster Mills, 225. 



692 



INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 



Painters, 367, 400, 401. 

Palmer Foundry, 251, 352-353, 363, 517. 

Palmer House, 494. 

Pantaloon Stuffs, 247. 

Papyrus Club, 523. 

Park, Central, 290-291. See Common, Index 

of Places. 
Park Street Church, Boston, 455. 
Parker House, 1S2, 157, 240, 250, 254, 376, 506. 
Parker, Joseph B., Machine Company, 347, 



350-351, 353, 365- 
: ph B., 

419. 



Parker, Josepr 



Machine Shop, 246, 251, 



Parsons' Blacksmith Shop, 1S6, 259. 

Patent of Counterpane Loom, 210-21 1. 

Patent of Gingham Loom, 223. 

Patent Office T<eports, 192, 234. 

Patterson House, 455. 

Paupers, 290. 

Pay-Roil, Poignand & Plant's Mill, 148. 

Pay-Roil, Clinton Company, 206-209. 

Pay-Roll, Lancaster Mills, 22S. 

Peat Meadow, 18. 

Peirce, A. H., Block, 394, 405. 

Peirce, W. N., Block, 400. 

Peninsular Campaign, 559-561, 562, 5S2. 

Pensacola (ship), 655,656,657. 

Pension Office, 439. 

Pestilence, 35. 

Pests, 31. 

Petition concerning Division of Lancaster, 
278. 

Petition concerning Meeting-House, 65. 

Petition for Pay for Billeting Soldiers, 66. 

Petition for Relief from Taxes, TJ. 

Petition to General Court for Road from 
Boston to Lancaster, 37. 

Phi Beta Kappa Society, 425. 

Physical Advantages of Clinton, 19. 

Physical Geograpny of Clinton, 1-19, 27-32. 
See Burditt Hill, Nashua River, etc. 

Physicians, 429-441. 

Pike's Arithmetic, 194. 

Pilgrims, 450. 

Pillions, 47. 

Pitts House, 161, 218. 

Pitts Mills, 158-161, 190, 217, 218, 219, 270, 331, 
339- 

Planing Mill, Belyea & Howe, 350, 352. 

Planing Mill, Fuller's. See Fuller's Mill. 

Planing Mill, Parker & Greene, 350, 365. 

Plant House, 152, 157, 249. See Parker House. 

Plants, Names of Clinton, 28-30. 

Poignand & Plant's Mills, 139-158, 190. 

Politics, 538-540. See names of political par- 
ties. 

Pollard House, 130. 

Polls, Number of, in CHnton, 1850-1865, 286. 

Poor Farm, 290, 293. 

Poor Farm, Lancaster, 126. 

Population of Lancaster, 82. 

Population of District No. to (1830), 190. 

Population of District No. 11 (1830), 190. 

Population of Clinton, 1865, 408. 

Post Office, 361, 384, 427, 429. 

Post-Tertiary Period, 23. 

Potomac (ship), 65s, 656. 

Potomac Flotilla, 056. 

Pound, 290, 292. 

Pound, New England and Sterling, loi. 

Practical Jokes, 124. 

Presbyterian Church, Keokuk, Iowa, 460. 



Prescott-Allen-Lowe Farm, 175. 

Prescott Club, 363. 

Prescott Family, Memorial of, 33. 

Prescott Garrison, 44, 56, 66. 

Prescott House, 44, 45, 106, 108. 

Prescott House, New, 71, 108, 399. 

Prescott, John ist. Estate, 47-54. 
" " Gravestone, 60. 

" " Last Deposition of, 59-60. 

Will, 50-53- 

Prescott, John 3d, Inventory of Estate, 74, 86, 

Prescott, John 4th, Inventory of Personal 
Estate, 87. 
" " Division of Real Estate, 

105-107. 

Prescott's Mill Privilege, 118. 

Prescott's Mills, 40-44, 47, 48, 51, 52, 61-63, 64, 
65, 66, 67, 68, 71, n^ 74, 81, iz, 85, 107, 109, 
114, 140, 143. 145, 162, 164, 183. See Corn 
Mill, and Poignand & Plant's Mills. 

Prescott's Millstone, 41-42. 

Primary School House No. i, 293. 

" " " No. 3, 293. 

" " " No. 4, 293. 

No. 5, 293. 

Princeton (ship), 656. 

Printing Press, The First in English Amer- 
ica, 36. 

Prohibitory-Republican Party, 353. 

"Proprietors of First Unitarian Meeting- 
House in Clinton,"_495. 

Protective Union, Division 49, 408. 

Protestant Churches, 482. 

Provincial Congress, 95. 

Prudential Agents, School Dist. No. 10, 260. 

Public Library of Boston, 236. 

Puritan, 34, 3^, 55, 76, 351, 452, 4S7. 

Quabaugs, 56. 

Quadrupeds, 32. 

Quakers, 109, 169, 176, 403. 

Quaker Church in Clinton, 109. 

Quartermaster's Department, U. S. Vol. 
Militia, 599, 659. 

Quartz, 27. 

Quartzite, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 27. 

Queen Anne's War, 63-64, 77-78, 79. 

Quilt Mill, 210-212, 217, 219, 227, 228, 251, 257, 
358, 400, 401, 481, 

Quilt Mill Conipany. See Lancaster Quilt 
Company. 

Quilts, 209-212. 

Quota, Clinton's, for Civil War. See Re- 
cruiting. 

Railroads, 373-374. See Index of Places. 

Rattlesnakes, 81, ii7- 

Rebel Prisons. See Mayo's Tobacco House, 
Richmond, Va., SaHsbury, N. C, Belle 
Isle, Va., Andersonville, Ga., Florence, 
S. C, Libby Prison, Richmond. Macon, 
Ga., Charleston, S. C, Columbia, S. C, 
Lynchburg, Va. 

Recruiting, 570-580, 608 610. 

Red River Expedition, 607, 608, 631. 

Regular Army, U. S., 626, 637, 639, 641, 651. 
653, 559. 

"Relations of Capital and Labor," E. B. 
Bigelow, 234, 237. 

Religious Society, 447. 

"Remarks on Depressed Condition of Manu- 
factures," E. B. Bigelow, 237. 



INDEX OF SUBJFXTS. 



693 



"Reminiscences," Tames Pitts, 123, 161, 177. 
"Reminiscences of School Days," G. W. 

Bigelow, 266. 
Representatives, House of, 368, 567. 
Republican Party, 239, 315, 364, 372, 43^^ 43S, 

474, 519, 520, 522, 539-540- 
Reptiles, 31. 
"Resipee Book," 431. 
Resolutions in Regard to British Tyranny, 

93-94- 
Revere House, Boston, 422. 
Revised Statutes, 36S. 
Revolution, Bounties in, 99, 100, loi. 
Revolution, Casualties in, 97. 
Revolution, Currency in, loi. 
Revolution, Debts from, 103. 
Revolution, Financial Troubles in, loi. 
Revolution, Opening of, 92-94. 
Revolution, Prices of , loi. 
Revolution, Women in, loi. 
Revolutionary War, 84, 92-102, 113, 123, 126, 

128, 129, 159, 174, 176, 3S6, 422, 505, 546, 580. 
Revolutionary Soldiers, 126, 168. 
Revolutionary Soldiers' Individual Record, 

97-100. 
Revolutionary Times, 431. 
Rhetorical Society, 324, 325, 332, 394, 532. 
Rhode Island Campaign, 96, 97, 129. 
Rhode Island State Board of Charities and 

Corrections, 135. 
Rice (Joseph) House, 116-117. 
Rice's Privilege and Saw Mill, 117-118, 150. 
Richmond Examiner, 553. 
Rickett's Battery, 626, 639, 641. 
Rigby House, 63, 124. 
Roads, 43, 62-63, 68, 70, Jt,, 177, 217, 269-271, 

290-291. See Names ot Roads and 

Streets. 
Rocking Stone, 7, 25. 
Rocks, Geology of, 20-23. 
Rodger's Mill, 13, 69, 354. 
RoUstone Bank, 372. 
Rowlandson Place, 69. 
Royal Arch Chapter, Free Masons, Clinton, 

365- 

Sabine (ship), 656, 657. 
Sagamore House, 377. 
St. Charles College, 512, 513. 
St. James .Seminary, Worcester, 509. 
Saint John's Church. See Catholic Church. 
Saint John's Church, Worcester. See Cath- 
olic Church, Worcester. 
Saint John's College, Fordham, N.Y., 521. 
St. John's Temperance Society, 517. 
St. Mary's Semmary, Baltimore, 512, 513. 
Saint Luke's Hospital, 158. 
Salmon, 3. 
Sand, 27. 

Sand Formation, 8. 11. 
Sanitary Commission, 573, 613. 
Sargent House, 218. 
Saturday Courant. See Courant. 
Savannah (ship), 657. 
Savings Bank, Clinton. See Banks. 
Saw Mills. See Names of Owners. 
Sawyer-Burdett House, 114, 117, 169, 175. 
Sawyer (Eli) House, 130. 
Sawyer's (Elias) Dam, 177. 
Sawyer's (Ehas) House, 158-159. 
Sawyers (Elias) Mill, 15S-159. 
Sawyer (Moses) Estate, 113, 122, 175. 



Sawyer (Thomas), Cottage, 399. 

Sawyer's Mills, 3, 75, 82, 90, 93, 113, 204, 206, 

24S, 317, 326. 
Schiller Club, 335. 
School Attendance, 301. 
School Committee, 294-295, 297, 309-310. 
School-house, First, m Dist. No. 10, 184-185. 
School Reports, 303. 
School Squadrons of Lancaster, 83. 
Schooling:, 18th Century, 87-88. 
Schools (South Woods), 135-138. 
Schools (Dist. No. 10), 183-191, 259-268. 
Schools (Clinton), 294-305. 
Scientific Notes, 20-32. 

Scotch Settlers, 129, 256, 319, 326, 327, 331, 335. 
Scott Club, 35S. 
Scott's First Lessons, 189. 
Second Adventists, 390, 504. 
Second Army Corps, 558, 582-595,616, 617, 618, 

621, 622, 625. 
Second Battalion Invalid Corps, 648, 657. 
Second Evangelical Church, Lancaster. See 

Congregationalist Church, Clinton. 
Second EvangeUcal Church, Manchester, N. 



H^i. 
ond Hea 



Second Heavy Artillery, 609, 640, 642, 651, 652. 
653. 655- 

Second Light Battery, 607, 608, 639. 

Second Regiment, 582, 5S3, 584, 587, 637. 

Second Regiment, Connecticut, 658. 

Second Regiment, New Hampshire, 657. 

Second Regiment, New Jersey, 647. 

Second Regiment N. Y. Cavalry, 637. 

Second School, 266, 26S, 296, 297-300, 347. 

Second U. S. Regt. Heavy Artillery, 653. 

Selectmen of Clinton, 285-2S6. 

"Self-taught Stenographer," E. B. Bigelow, 
195, 236. 

Senate of Massachusetts, 154, 202, 278, 280, 
282, 368, 424, 443, 541- 

Seven Days' Fight, 642. 

Seventeenth Century, 33-63. 

Seventeenth Regiment, 597, 653. 

Seventh Regiment, 559, 5S4, 589, 637. 

Seventh Regiment, New Hampshire, 657, 658. 

Severy House, 121-122. 

"Schackahan" (ship), 656. 

Shaker Community, Harvard, 147. 

Shattuck Manuscripts, 49. 

Shays' Insurrection, 103. 

"Sherman's March to tne Sea," 626. 

Sidney Harris & Sons' Comb .Shops, 342. 

Sidney Harris & Sons' Manufacturing Com- 
pany, 343-344- 

Sieges. See Index of Places — Yorktown, 
Vicksburg, Knoxville, Petersburg. 

Signal Corps, 641. 

Silk Brocatel Boom, 234. 

Silurian Age, 23. 

Singing -Scnool (Collester's), 377. 

Six Nations, 129. 

Sixteenth Corps, 59S. 

Sixteenth Regiment, U. S. A., 637. 

Sixth Corps, 584, 592, 621, 622. 

Sixth Regiment, 542. 

Sixtieth Regiment, 610, 653. 

Sixty-first Regiment, 610, 651. 

Skirt Company, Bay State, 356. 

Slate, 20, 21, 22, 23, 27. 

Slavery, American, 451. 

Slavery in Lancaster, 74. 

Smith's Engineering Corps, 621. 



694 



INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 



Smith, George P., Block, 392-394, 398, 427, 437. 

Smith's Introduction, 264.. 

Soldiers' Aid Society, Clinton, 462, 544, 572- 



574, ^87, 612-614. 
Idlers'^ Re 



Soldiers' Records, 79, 90-102. 

"Solitude," 142. 

Soil, 27-28. 

Soldiers. See Civil War, Revolution, etc. 

Soldiers' Monument. 658. 

Sonoma (ship), 656. 

Sons of Temperance, Clinton Division No. 



67, 341, 531. 
South Churcli, Andover, 



451. 



South Mills, 56S. 

South Woods' School, 127, 135, 136. 

Southbridge Academy, 265, 347. 

Southbridge M. E. Church, 488. 

South Church, Andover, 451. 

South Lancaster Academy, 382. 

Spanish Moss, 597. 

Spanish War, 79. 

Speaker of House, 567. 

Speedwell (ship) , 403- 

Sprague's Mills. See Prescott Mills. 

Springfield Collegiate Institute, 300. 

Springfield High School, 300. 

Squatter Sovereignty, 539. 

Stage Routes, 374-5. 

Stamp Act, 92. 

"Star Brigade" or Heckman's, 618, 621, 622. 

State Militia, 533. 

"Statement of Facts in regard to Lancaster 

Mills," E. B. Bigelow, 237-38. 
State Normal School at Framingham, 267. 
Station Agents, 374. 
Statistics of 1771, 83. 
Steam Engineers, 359. 
Stearns Building, 405. 
Stevens' Linen Bleachery, Dudley, 519. 
Stocking Loom, Lee's, 224. 
Stone House, 118-119. 
Stone Masons, 367, 518. 
Stores. See Commercial Development. 
Straw Braiding, 149. 
Strike at Lancaster Mills, 1854, 319. 
Sumpter (ship), 657. 
Superior Court, 523. 
Sunday Riot, 149. 

Sunday Schools. See Names of Churches. 
Sunday School, Unitarian, 313, 354. 
Sunday School Society, Unitarian, 497. 
Superior Court of U. S., 308. 
Sweden (ship), 656. 
Swedenborgians, 307. 

Tables and Lists : — 
Elevations, 17. 
Plants, 28-30. 
Teachers No. 11, 136-137. 
Teachers No. 10, 187-1S8. 
"Committee Men," School Dist. No. 10, 187. 
Agents, School Dist. No. 10, 260. 
Teachers, School Dist. No. 10, 261. 
Valuation, Amount of Tax, Tax Rate, No. 

of Polls, and Debt, 1850-186^, 2S6. 
Permanent Investments of Clinton, 1850- 

1865, 292-293. 
School Committee, 1S50-1865, 294-295. 
School Attendance, 1S50-1865, 301. 



Taxation for Schools, 302. 

Teachers, 302-3. 

Assessors' Valuation of Stock of 



Mer- 



chants, 40S. 

Statistics of Population, 408. 

Original Members of Congregational 
Church, 449. 

Superintendents of Sunday School, Cong. 
Church, 1840-1865, 459. 

Clerks of Cong. Church, 1844-1865, 460. 

Prominent Members of Cong. Church and 
Society, 460-61. 

'Oiificers of Cong. Benevolent Society, 1844- 
1865, 463. 

Original Members of Unitarian Society,493. 

Individual Record of Volunteers, 637-659. 
Tacony (ship), 656. 
Tammany Regiment, 552. 
Tannery (Bryant's), 13. 

" (Chace's), 131-132, 133, 160. 
Tariff, 236-237. 

"Tariff Policy," E. B. Bigelow, 236. 
"Tariff Question," E. B. Bigelow, 236. 
"Tavern House," 148, 468. See Clintonville 

Hotel. 
Taxation in Clinton, Table of amount of 

Rates, 1850-1S65, 2S6. 
Taxation after Revolution, 103. 
Taxation for Schools, 1850-1865, 302. 
Taxation, Custom Duties, 103. 
Taxation, Direct, 103. 
Taxation, Freedom trom, 41, 43. 
Taxation, Petition for Relief from, 77. 
Taxation without Representation, 93. 
Tea, Advertisement against a Seller of, 94. 
Teachers, 239. See Schools and Tables. 
Technical Institute, Chicago, 520. 
Technology, Mass. Institute of, 379. 
Temperance, 123. 
Temperance Organizations, 529-32. 
Temperance, Sons of, 341, 531. 
Temperance Society, St. Jonn's, 517. 
Tenements of Lancaster Mills, 225. 
Tenth Connecticut Regiment, 565. 
Tenth Illinois Cavalry, 658. 
Terraces, 11-12, 26. 
Thatch, 44. 
Thayer Estate, 444. 

Third Battalion of Riflemen, 544, 546, 652. 
Third Cavalry, 607-608, 609, 615, 631-33, 654. 
Third Corps, 559, 593- 
Third Heavy Artillery, 609, 653. 
Third School. See High School. 
Thirteenth Corps, 598. 
Thirteenth N. Y. Cavalry, 642. 
Thirtieth Regiment, 596, 647. 
Thirty-eighth Regiment, 605, 606. 
Thirty-fifth Regiment, 601. 
Thirty-first Regiment, 596, 647. 
Thirty-fourth Regiment, 419, 574, 575, 582, 
585, 591, 595, 609, 615, 629-33, 638, 644, 647- 
49, 650, 652. 
Thirty-ninth U. S. Colored Troops, 62S, 6^7. 
Thirty-sixth Regiment, 324, 576-577, 582, 584- 
585, 589, 590, 591, 596-601, 615, 6x6, 617, 621, 
623, 625, 626, 628, 629, 633, 638, 643, 644,649, 
650. 
Thursday Evening Club, Boston, 239. 
Tories, 92. 

Torrent Engine Company No. i, 288, 289. 
Torrent Engine No. i, 292. 
Tourmaline, 25-27. 
Town Clerks, 285. 
Town Hall, 312, 357, 439. 
Town Hall, Lancaster, 271, 276-77, 378. 



INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 



695 



Town Officers, Lancaster, 271. 

Town Property, 2Q2. 

Town Records, 183. 

Trade. See Commercial Development. 

Trade, Board of, 363. 

Trade in iSth Century, 84. j 

Trap, 25, 27. 

Travel in i8th Century, 89. 

Treasurers of Clinton, 285. 

Trees, 7, 8, 10, 12. 

Tremont House, Boston, 422. 

Triassic Period, 22. 

Trinity Lodge Free Masons, 108, in, 257,3544 

365. 388, 441, 524-28, 602. 
Trinity Lodge, Old, 524-527. 
Troy Conference, iSIethodist Episcopal 

Church, 485. 
Trucking House, George Hill, 36, 38. 
Truckmen, 375. 

Tucker-Chace Estate, 79, 129-131, 134. 
Turnverein, 335. 
Twelfth Corps, 584, 5S5. 
Twentieth Regiment, 550, 551, 554, 55S, 559, 

560. 561, 584, 585, 589, 590, 626, 638, 639, 640, 

641, 642, 6.13. 
Twenty-eighth Regiment, 570, 5S4, 589, 647. 
Twenty-fifth Regiment, 387, 419. 533, 563-570, 

575, 61;, 618-625, 627, 628, 645-647. 
Twenty-fifth Regiment, North Carolina, 619, 

620. 
Twenty-first Battalion, 628. 
Twenty-first Regiment, 363-369, 539, 563, 565- 

569, 570, 582-84, 5S7, 589, 590, 591, 596, 599- 
601, 615, 616, 617, 618, 621, 622, 625, 627, 628, 
643-44, 648, 652. 

Twenty-fourth Regiment, 565, 567, 568, 569, 

570, 644, 645, 648. 
Twenty-fourth N. V. Cavalry, 658. 
Twenty-second Regiment, 558, 559, 560, 584, 

589, 644, 650. 
Twenty-second N. Y. Regiment, 645. 
Twenty-seventh Regiment, 565, 567, 615, 621, 

647. 
Twenty-seventh Regiment, INIichigan, 597. 
Twenty-sixth Regiment, 596, 626, 647. 
Twenty-third Regiment, 565, 567, 56S, 569, 570, 

644. 
Tyler House, 250, 360, 400, 451. 
Tyler's Block, 400. 

Union Building, 289, 406. 

Union Church, Worcester, 451. 

Union College, 484. 

Union House, 398. 

"LTnion Question Books," 446. 

Union Store, 392, 405. 

Unitarian Benevolent Society, 502-3. 

Unitarian Church, 313, 329, 341, 415, 417, 439, 

445. 492, 503. 
Unitarian Church Choir, 383. 
Unitarian Church, Danvers, 497. 
Unitarian Church, East Boston, 494. 
Unitarian Church, Lancaster, 444-45, 446, 492, 

502. See Brick Church. 
Unitarian Society, 244, 253. 258, 314, 325, 326, 
,, .343; 354. 355- 363, 366, 373. 404. 445i 492-503, 
Unitarian Society, Milwaukee, Wis., 497. 
Unitarian Sunday School, 313, 334. 
Unitarians, 173, 179, 307, 327, 329, 400, 446, 458. 
United States Draft Commissioners, 609. 
United States Consul, 150. 
United States Government, 232, 359, 554. 



United States Sanitary Commission, 573. 
United States Volunteer Militia, 599. 
Universalists, 307, 361, S03-4. 
Universalist Church, Lancaster, 161, 503. 
University of Berlin, 267. 

Valuation of Clinton, Table of, 286. 

Vegetation, 27-30. 

Vermont State University, 455. 

Veteran Reserve Corps, 626, 641, 642, 643, 644, 

648, 650. 657. 
"\'icar of Wakefield," Oliver Goldsmith, 142. 
Views, 7, 8, 9, 12, 18, 19. 
Volunteer Militia of Massachusetts, 541, 557. 

See numbers of regiments. 
Volunteer Record, 570-5S0. 

Wages in Revolution, loi. 

Walcott's Block, 150. 

Wallace's Store, 448. 

Walpole Academy, 438. 

Waltham Factory, 147. 

Wampanoags, 55. 

War Department, 643. 

War of 1812, 146. 

Warren Association. Baptist Church, 464. 

Washacum, Grant of Lands at, 48. 

Washington College, 422. 

Washington Conference, Methodist Episco- 
pal Church, 4S1. 

Washington County Post, 420. 

Washingtonian Movement, 174, 529. 

Water Privileges. See Names of Streams, 
and Mills. 

Water-wheels, Manufacture of, 361. 

Weaving Room, Lancaster Mills, 225. 

Weldon Railroad, Va., 625, 629. 

Wells' Grammar, 264. 

Wells' Grammar School, 308. 

Wesleyan University, 486, 488. 

Western Gun-boat Flotilla, 641. 

Wheeler's Garrison, 56. 

Whig County Committee, Middlesex, 244. 

Whig Party. 539. 

Whigs, 92, 94, 244, 271, 315, 358. 

Wilbraham Academy, 346, 484, 488. 

Wild Cats, 81. 

Wilder-Carville Estate, 125, 126, 127. 

Wilder Farm, 80. 

Wilder House, 136. 

Williams College, 240. 

Wilton and Brussels Carpeting. See Brus- 
sels Carpeting. 

Wilton Carpet Loom, 233. 

Winter Building, 395-396. 

Wire Cloth Company, Clinton, 234, 242, 251. 
344-348, 3^8. 

Wire Cloth Company, Worcester, 345. 

Wire Cloth Mill, 242, 256, 257, 345, 448. 

Wire Drawing, 164. 

Winthrop Grammar School, Boston, 308. 

Wolves, Si. 

Women, iSth Century, 85. 

Women in Revolution, loi. 

Woodland, 29. 

Wood's Farm, So. 

Wool Manufacturers, National Association 
of, 235. 

Woolen Mill Dam. 117. 

Worcester Academy, 265, 347, 478. 

Worcester Agricultural Society, 254. 

Worcester Congregationalist Association., 451 



696 



INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 



Worcester County History, 428. 

Worcester County Manual Labor, High 

School, 396. 
Worcester County Mechanics' Association, 

254- 
Worcester Horticultural Society, 254. 
XVorcester House, 457, 460. 
Worcester Manufacturers' Mutual Insurance 

Company, 251. 
Worcester Spy, 421, 547. 
World's Columbian Exposition, 523. 
Worsted Mill, 164, 202, 270, 379, 420. 
Wrigley Cottage, 332, 399. 
Wrigley Yard, 330. 



Yale College, 158, 240. 

Yale Theological School, 298. 

Yankees, 14S, 228, 3(8. 

Yarn Company, 366. 

Yarn Mill, 145, 163. 

Young Men's Benevolent Society of Boston, 

312. 
Young Men's Christian Association Rooms, 

397- 
Young Men's Democratic Club of Mass., 523. 
Young Men's Rhetorical Society, 324, 325, 

532. 
Zion"s Herald, 484. 
Zoology, 31-32. 






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